Market tours & factory visits
Plan the route, translate each meeting, record the quotes
Guangzhou’s wholesale markets are enormous and specialised: a market that is perfect for artificial flowers is useless for auto parts. A productive day starts with knowing which building to walk into.
A market or factory day
What the day involves, and what you leave with
Still sizing the trip itself? The market-tour planning guide covers days, markets and preparation.
Before you arrive
A route built around your product category and the days you have — which markets, which buildings, which factories, in an order that makes sense on the map. Appointments confirmed where they are needed.
On the day
I come with you, interpret at every stall and meeting, ask the follow-up questions and keep notes as we go so nothing rests on memory.
What you take home
The supplier contacts, the prices that were quoted and my notes from each stop — plus the option to carry straight on into sourcing, checks and shipping with me.
Factory visits
See where your goods are actually made
A factory visit answers what a catalogue can’t: how big the operation really is, whether they make your product themselves or buy it in, what the finishing looks like up close, and how they respond when you ask a hard question in person.
- Appointments arranged and confirmed before you fly
- Travel between factories planned around your days
- Interpreting through the technical and pricing discussion
- Notes on what each supplier quoted and promised
Interpreting
English–Chinese interpreting for buyers
I work in English, Mandarin, Cantonese. Much of the wholesale and factory trade here runs in Cantonese or Mandarin, and the detail that decides whether an order goes well — tolerances, materials, packing, lead times, payment terms — is what gets lost in a translation app. I am a working interpreter for buyers, not a certified translator, and I don’t offer document certification.
- Supplier and factory meetings
- Wholesale market days
- Exhibitions and trade fairs, including the Canton Fair
- Follow-up calls with suppliers after you fly home
Canton Fair and exhibition days
The Canton Fair puts thousands of suppliers in one complex. Without a plan and an interpreter, most visitors collect business cards and little else. I go in with buyers to work the halls: which stands are worth stopping at for your category, what each one quoted, and which factory visits should follow while you are still in China.
Local knowledge
Ultimate wholesale market guide in Guangzhou
A comprehensive list of the wholesale markets in Guangzhou across the industries I work in. I visit as a buyer’s guide and interpreter — I don’t represent any of these markets.
Jewellery
Garments and fashion
Kids’ wear
Textiles and accessories
Leather goods and shoes
Electronics and digital accessories
Cosmetics and beauty
Auto parts
Aquatic products
Tea
Toys and gifts
Stationery and office supplies
Artificial flowers
Hospitality supplies
Coming to Guangzhou?
Send your product list and travel dates. I will map the markets and factories worth your days and confirm the appointments before you land.