Canton Fair 2024 - The most detailed guide from A-Z - Tra Bo 8 years of experience in finding Chinese factories

Perhaps going to Canton Fairs and trade fairs is no longer strange, everyone can go to find factories, everyone goes to Fairs, every family goes to Fairs. The story of OEM and Working directly with factories is now basically popular. Don't think that OEM and working with factories is something terrible ^^

Perhaps after 2,3 years of Covid + with Shopee Tik Tok shops being burned out in recent years, direct D2C sales have become simpler, distribution systems are gradually having difficulty selling directly on the Floor at a price that is cheaper than Wholesale Imports as well as sales that have jumped up, causing 500 Fomo brothers. And of course the simplest way to work directly with factories is Alibaba, but if you want to meet in person and touch them for safety and filter out quality factories, then going to the fair is one of the bright options.

This article will help everyone get the most general view of going to Fair and instructions on going to Canton Fair. From me, Tra Bo, who has 8 years of experience going to 20 Fairs of all kinds in China.

1. What is Canton Fair? 

For those who do not know, this is the largest fair in China in Guangzhou (formerly Guangzhou was called Canton) on Import and Export Trade with more than 50 years of history, and is also the most diverse in industries, with the most factories, convenient to travel with the most reasonable cost for Vietnamese Sellers.

To talk about the size, it is difficult to describe in words, but you can imagine if the exhibition area is about 1.5 million square meters, equivalent to 280 My Dinh Stadium areas.

And here is a panoramic photo of Areas A, B, C and the Westin Hotel behind the fair

Every year, up to 500,000 sellers from all over the world come to Canton fair to meet more than 60,000 manufacturers of all industries twice a year in April and October. Usually in April you will see many booths serving the Christmas shopping season at the end of the year and October is suitable for planning business for the following year

Each fair is divided into 3 phases (5 days) and there is a 3-day break between phases

The fair is divided into 3 phases and in April the 135th fair takes place on the following days:

• Phase 1: April 15-19, 2023: Household electrical appliances, Consumer electronics and information products, Electrical and electronic products, Lighting equipment, New energy resources, New materials and chemical products, Hardware, Tools, Processing machinery and equipment, Electrical and electrical equipment, General machinery and mechanical parts, Industrial automation and intelligent manufacturing, Construction machinery, Agricultural machinery, New energy vehicles and intelligent mobility, Motorcycles, Bicycles, Auto parts, Vehicles. 
• Phase 2: 23-27/04/2023: Construction and decoration materials, Sanitary and bathroom equipment, Furniture, Kitchen and tableware, Daily use ceramics, Household appliances, Clocks, Watches and Optical instruments, Gifts and premiums, Festival products, Home decoration, Art ceramics, Glassware, Garden products, Textile products, rattan and iron, iron and stone decorations and outdoor spa facilities.
• Phase 3: 01-05/05/2023: Personal care equipment, Bathroom products, Medicines, Medical products and medical equipment, Pet products, Maternity and baby products, Toys, Children's clothing, Men's and women's clothing, Sportswear and casual wear, Underwear, Fur, Leather, Feathers and related products, Products, Clothing accessories and accessories, Home textiles, Textile materials and fabrics, Carpets and decorative tapestries, Footwear, Office supplies, Bags and suitcases, Sports and tourism leisure products, Food, Rural revitalization.

In which, Phase 2 is the most important because it has the consumer goods industry, the largest industry

People can calculate the time to choose to go in phase 1 or 2,3. However, if you have already spent money on visa and airfare, going in 1 phase is a bit wasteful. Usually, people will go in 2 phases and the shortest optimal schedule for those who go in 2 phases is 9 days

• Phase 1+2: 9 Days From April 17 to April 25 Will be able to go in the last 3 days of phase 1 and the first 3 days of phase 2, The break between the 2 phases can be to visit nearby factories or go to markets in Guangzhou
• Phase 2+3: 9 Days From April 25 to May 3 Will be able to go in the last 3 days of phase 2 and the first 3 days of phase 3, The break between the 2 phases can be to visit nearby factories or go to markets in Guangzhou

People can refer to my company's Canton Fair 2023 travel schedule

2. So who is suitable and who is not suitable to go to Canton Fair  

In fact, I have been to many different fairs from Shanghai - Fuzhou - Guangzhou - Shenzhen and even to Singapore and the US, so I have some experience for those who go to Canton Fair

2.1 People who are suitable to go to Canton Fair are

• You should go if you are looking for a supplier through Alibaba and want to make a large order that needs trust
• You should go if your suppliers are also going to the fair, this is a great opportunity to meet and shake hands as well as meet many higher-ups in the partner's company. Usually, you only talk to the sales staff in charge of your area
• You should go if you have money, have been doing business well and this is your first time coming to China to learn more about the products and factories so that you can expand in the future.
• You should go if you are working in companies that import consumer goods for supermarket chains and large systems.

This is a photo of my company meeting babyhop's partners at Canton fair 4/2016

2.2 Who should not go to Cantonfair (waste of going to Canton Fair)

• You should not go if you have been to Cantonfair before and your industry has specific trade shows that are better for your industry (Baby Mom has a specialized and larger fair than CBME in Shanghai in July, or a fair for the Cosmetics industry in Guangzhou in March, and a Logistics and ecom fair in Shenzhen in November)
• You should not go if you can only go for 1-2 days. Because the Fair is very large and has many booths, if you only go for 1-2 days, it will not be effective. Usually an effective Cantonfair trip lasts from at least 5-10 -18 days for 1-2-3 phases

Canton Fair is the absolute ideal starting point for those who have made a few official full container orders through Alibaba and want to take the next leap in their business. In fact, if you are too familiar with small-scale and 1688, you will see that the prices here seem expensive and slow and require high quantities. However, long-term sustainability is always the full container full tax.

Why is Cantonfair so valuable for the right people 

• Participating in Canton fair helps you find very large factories that do not advertise online too much and can access the latest products (usually the Fair is where factories introduce their new products)
• For example, the photo is a product I really like CBME 2019 at that time the factory did not sell in the Chinese market, if I import it to sell, it will be the latest in the world
• You can meet partners and build good relationships with them simply because you are more serious. Spend thousands of dollars and dozens of days going to Fairs, not just turning on the computer and chatting with them (In the past, I also encountered many cases of being ignored when connecting with partners on Alibaba or their direct website). When going to Fairs, I always try to add wechat and always get quick responses.

3. Is Canton Fair free to enter or does it require a ticket?

This is a fair dedicated to import and export, so the main participants are foreigners and Chinese people who are partner businesses or agencies of trading companies. It is not open to the public, so a Card is required

The Cantonfair Card is issued once and can be used forever. You can register in advance at the link on the official website of Cantonfair. Fill in your passport information, company name and email and you will have a successful code. On the first day of the fair, you line up in the registration area and wait to take a photo to make a free card if you have registered in advance.

I made the cantonfair card in 2016.

If you do not register in advance, it will cost 100 yuan ($13) to do it on-site

If you have already made a card and lost it, the fee to re-make it will be 200 yuan ($26). Therefore, if you have lost your card and have a new passport number, you can re-register without paying (the passport number must be new).

The Cantonfair registration website (https://invitation.cantonfair.org.cn/Home/Index) is really bad, so I have made a very long guide below for everyone to refer to. 

Note that after registering, you need to print out the paper and bring a 4×6 photo, otherwise you will have to pay an additional fee to take a photo of about $5 and have to wait. If you have time, you should come 1 day before the fair just to make a card so that you can go straight the next day without having to queue.... Trust me, the first day of queuing can take a few hours, which is normal (Those who have registered in advance still have to queue to get a card - Save money, but you still have to queue) 

4. Chinese Visa to Canton Fair: Cost, Travel Period and Fingerprinting

The cheapest visa is usually the tourist type, the Embassy fee is $60 + ~$90 fee

However, I found a reputable company that provides the service for $1,000 (reasonable). You can find other services or do it yourself…

2023, getting a Chinese visa requires fingerprinting, which is very complicated and time-consuming

[update 2024, tourist visas do not require fingerprinting anymore]

A 3-month tourist visa is valid for 15 days maximum -> only enough for 2 phases. If anyone wants to go longer than 3 phases, they can apply for another type of visa, which is a bit more expensive

If you travel by road, you still need a visa because your passport can only travel 200 km around the border and cannot enter Guangzhou

Line up to get fingerprints (Usually 1-2 hours) [No need to get fingerprints for tourist visas in 2024]

5. How is the weather in Canton Fair Guangzhou?

In general, the weather in April and October is similar. The temperature is about 24-28 degrees, hot but not too hot. There were many days when I went, it was foggy and had a little rain, but it was okay because most of the fair halls were indoors. Especially the ceramic areas were temporary tents with air conditioning but it was still a bit hot.

6. Travel to Canton Fair (Guangzhou) China

The cheapest way is by road, I have been there many times. Hanoi Take a bus to Huu Nghi Lang Son border gate, line up to exit and book a sleeper bus from Bang Tuong - Guangzhou -> Arrive at Viet Tu Nam bus station at 5-6 am, take 16 hours in total 1 day. Round trip cost is about $100/person.

There are direct flights from Vietnam Airlines and China Southern Air for $400 round trip. The best flight time is to depart at 8 am and return at 10 pm (good flight time, you can travel a lot without spending an extra day at the hotel).

Refer to China Southern Air's beautiful flight time

Transit flights are a bit cheaper than transiting Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Macau, priced at $250/round trip. Flight time is 9-12 hours and sometimes arriving at the airport too early at 0:00, probably sleeping at the airport waiting for 5-6 hours to return to the center.

Previously the cheapest was Pacific Airline $90/way $180 round trip direct flight, but as of March 29, 2023, I wrote the article today and it has not been reopened. Actually, if you go to the fair without luggage and only carry-on luggage, you can take the low-cost airline Pacific, but the time is a bit inconvenient because there is only 1 night flight at 1:00-2:00, so when you arrive in Guangzhou, you have to take a taxi or like me, sleep at the airport for a few hours and then take the Metro early in the morning to go back to the center.

7. Traveling in China

Guangzhou is especially convenient for public transportation, metro, bus. For foreigners like me, 100% take the Metro, from the airport is also available. So you guys just need a backpack or a small suitcase is the most convenient.

Metro buy 3-day unlimited card for 50 Yuan (12$K) right at the airport at the beginning of Metro, for example, I went for 9 days and bought 3 to use -> Or use a top-up card, 1 card costs 30 Yuan, top up as much as you go -> Top up at convenience stores is also simple.

Canton fair, on Metro line 8 there are 2 stations you can get off at: Pazhou, which is near area B, C and XinGangDong, which is near area A of Cantonfair.

Method 2 is to travel by taxi / didi -> This is a bit complicated if you don't know the language, if anyone has a Chinese sim card, and can pay with alipay, it is more convenient and can be used at a relatively higher price than the metro.

8. Hotels convenient for Canton Fair

Rich business people should stay at hotels right next to the Canton Fair complex with daily shuttle buses for $300-500/night and are often fully booked during the fair.

Map hotel near Cantonfair

The 3 blue boxes are hotels in the area. The closest blue box right below the fair complex is the Westin Pazhou. Of course, the price of the room here during the fair is very expensive at $400/night and so is the food. The buffet is about $70/person for dinner. A cup of coffee is $10USD. I think they can offer this crazy price simply because there are not many options around.

The other 2 hotels are Langham Place and Shangri-La which are more reasonable at only about $200/night. Langham and Westin are easier to get to the fair than Shangri-la

Guangzhou is a big city with over 10 million people, there is no shortage of hotels, even if you fly tomorrow and book tonight, it is not a problem. However, if you have a schedule, book 4-5 weeks in advance to find a suitable hotel. Many hotels allow you to cancel 3.5 days in advance without charge. So there is no reason to wait until the day to increase the price

It is no different from booking on www.trip.com. The international division of Ctrip, the largest OTA booking company in China, and www.Agoda.com or www.booking.com are also convenient but have fewer rooms, especially multi-bed rooms in new apartment buildings.

The price has now doubled compared to normal days, so the whole family booked early at Cantonfair, so everywhere is crowded and the price will also increase (Usually, to save money, you can book a room with 2 double beds for max 4 adults ~150$ is suitable, divided by ~50$ for each person).

When booking a hotel, you need to pay attention to 2 things

• A hotel near the Metro will be convenient for you to travel < 500m is suitable, check the nearest metro station before booking, if you don't pay attention, booking a hotel 1-2 km away is also great
• A hotel on metro line 8 is the most convenient -> I used to book around Wanshengwei Station. Walk a few stops and in the evening, sit by the river to enjoy the cool breeze and drink a can of Habin beer, it's great

Some suggestions for hotels in the Wangsingway area

9. Eating and drinking in Guangzhou

In China, in the morning, walking around with dumplings + Soy milk is the most popular combo

At noon, near Cantonfair, there is Jinhan fair next to PWTC, where you can eat a free buffet. You can walk to the interior fair to enjoy the view while eating. Last time, because of lunch, I also closed a container of goods that I could not sell out.

Chinese food is greasy and spicy, if you are not used to it, you can try KFC, McDonald's 10$/person. At night, you can go to the city to eat typical dishes such as hot pot, grilled dishes. I really like the Shanghai dumpling restaurant near Tiyu Xilu station on line 3. Even more special, you can try stinky tofu, at first it sounds hard to eat but the more you eat, the more you like it and Guangzhou food connoisseurs often go to Tiger Prawn restaurant on Huifudong lu near Beijing lu walking street to eat this dish. If you don't know, the owner of this restaurant is Vietnamese, I often order stinky tofu and salt and pepper shrimp, it's really delicious. And if you miss Vietnamese food, you can make a bowl of pho to make it more enjoyable.

10. Sim card – internet

There are 2 types of sim: sim made in China with number and sim Data bought in Vietnam

Chinese sim:

 the advantage is having a Chinese number, can be made right when landing at Guangzhou airport, they will take a photo of your passport and make you a sim for 200 Yuan. get 6 GB for 30 days. However, the limitation is that you will not be able to access Google, Facebook without going through VPN, the advantage is having a Chinese phone number -> Register for douyin, taobao, then bring it back to Vietnam to top up monthly to turn on roaming

Data sim bought in Vietnam

 - Use Google Facebook comfortably but do not have a Chinese number, only data. Depending on the number of days and GB needed, everyone chooses to buy on Shopee accordingly, the network in China is very fast and even on the subway there is still signal so the data flows very quickly, I recommend you buy a lot to use it comfortably. Before, I used the 9 GB package and it ran out on the 6th day :(

11. Prepare for Cantonfair in advance

Learn about the products of participating factories on the official website of Cantonfair

https://www.cantonfair.org.cn/en-US/customPages/exhibition

Find out about current products being sold on Amazon, Etsy, Shopee, Tiktok shop, e-commerce platforms. Record the potential and current selling price and some special points of the new product at the fair that you can beat your competitors. Remember to write down the booth code on your excel file/google sheet.

For example, this is my sample from cantonfair 2016.

Note Booth number will have the following structure.

Phase – Hall – Layer – Booth everyone can visualize more easily below.

Note: You need to have a purpose for going to the Fair, HAVE some industry products in mind, don't go and hope to find something interesting -> if you don't prepare well, it won't be effective... your feet will be tired, but everything will be shallow and you won't be able to close anything.

Try Before Going Have a list of over 30 Suppliers with 30 Booth Codes you will have to visit along with a list of about 100 products that have been researched

12. Basic schedule of 1 phase of Canton Fair

In my experience, each phase takes place in 5 days but you do not necessarily need to go for the full 5 days.

My schedule will usually take place in 3 days, in which on Day 1 I will try to go through as much as possible, ask preliminary questions, take notes, take photos to save important information. On the evening of Day 1, I will sit at home and research what I have collected from Day 1, for example, finding keywords for interesting products on Day 1 on e-commerce sites, Amazon, Ebay, Etsy, Shopee, Tiktok shop.

A booth that I almost got a deal at Cantonfair 2019

Day 2, go back to the good sellers that you went to on day 1... For example, on day 1, you see 50 potential factories, but when you check on day 1 at night, you see 5 are attractive and have the highest chance -> on day 2, you will go back to these 5 factories and ask more in-depth questions... And continue to browse on day 2.

On the night of day 2, go back to the process of night 1 and study the shortlist again so that on day 3, you will go and ask more carefully with potential factories in the first 2 days.

Note: The last day and especially after noon on the last day is the time to pack up, so you won't be able to do much work. However, you can go ask for sample products, ask for samples >>>> I have experience going with a team of sisters to ask for several boxes of goods worth tens of millions.

12 Dress as well as things needed for a fair day

I remember the first year I went to Fair, I wore a vest, dress pants, shirt, leather shoes, and a business laptop bag... I walked 10 km and was both hot and tired. And from then on, I never wore this business style again, but instead wore soft sneakers, specialized for walking -> For example, bitis hunter shoes) to hold the ankles, Cool casual clothes.

If you go in a group of 2-3 people, you can bring a small 16-20 inch suitcase to store sample catalog documents as well as spare batteries + gopro camera if you want to make a tiktok Vlog for it.

Don't forget to bring the Cantonfair card -> Make it once and use it for life, don't lose it

Make 200-300 business cards so that when your booth doesn't have time to meet, drop the business card in their mailbox -> you will have a connection of a quality booth, then they will email you weekly

If you don't want to be spammed, your main mailbox should create a new mailbox specifically for Cantonfair and a new business card set

For example, mine is -cardvisit [email protected] specializes in receiving Cantonfair hotpot mail.

[email protected] specializes in VIP customers who have been confirmed, it will be easier to close the deal.

And for more convenience, you can add Wechat right there.

14. Basic questions at Cantonfair    

When meeting and discussing with partners, I can list some topics that people can refer to for negotiation

Product Differentiation: What is the difference of the product that you think is the best?

MOQ: Minimum quantity to order this product?

OEM: Can the product be OEM?

Exclusive: Can the product be made exclusively in Vietnam? Does the factory have a Vietnamese partner?

Price: How much is the price for a quantity of 5,000? How much is 10,000?

Taobao/Tmall: Does the factory sell on Tmall?

License, Patent: Does the factory have any special design or technology copyrights?

Location: Where is the factory, can I visit during the break between 2 phases?

Conclusion

For anyone who imports from China, at some point in their life, you should go to Canton Fair. You may have a sense of Canton Fair through a post on someone's website, X, Instagram, Facebook or tiktok. However, go there to see it for yourself. It is really huge. It will help you broaden your horizons about the scale of Chinese production and the possibilities that you have never even thought of before. However, in recent years, importers are gradually shifting to import goods from Vietnam, due to China's import ban and tax policies. With the advantage of cheap but high-quality labor, made in Vietnam products are easier to distribute and sell than made in China. In Vietnam, there are also many fairs specializing in export, although not as famous as Canton Fair, the prices, quality, and designs are not inferior.

Have you visited Canton Fair yet? Or are you planning to attend one of the upcoming ones? If so, please share your experience below or any questions I will answer all your questions no matter how small.

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Bonus 15 steps to register for canton fair card to save 15$

Bước 1 Access link https://invitation.cantonfair.org.cn/ click Register

Step 2 Fill in all the information Register new account I Pay attention to the Email and passport number boxes - passport no -> this is important)

Bước 3 Check mail and click the link active Buyer E-Service tool

Step 4 Log back in with the information you just registered and the email that was just activated.

Step 5 Click on the Pre Registration box as shown

Step 6: go to Company information box to create your company and then register for the card.

Remember to fill in all the boxes marked with an asterisk and submit

Step 7 Go back to https://invitation.cantonfair.org.cn/Home/Index and click on Pre Registration

Bước 8 ấn vào Query như hình

Step 9 click on the bold blue text as shown below with your correct name

Step 10 You see the word Buyer badge No in that color “Did not apply yet” means you have not registered yet and click Next step to start registering.

Step 11 Fill in your passport number and upload your personal photo + passport photo

Note that if you do not have a visa, just upload your passport photo and it will still be approved

Step 11: Go back to your personal page and check if there is a word to be verified -> As shown in the picture, you have registered and are waiting for approval.

Step 12: Wait 1-2 hours for approval -> ok, it will be like the picture below and click on view Confirmation notice to enjoy the results

SUCCESSFULLY PRINT THIS SHEET with the correct barcode and passport number, bring it to the fair with a 4×6 photo.

The above 12 steps help you register in advance to save 15$ for cantonfair card

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