7-Day China Sourcing Trip: Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangzhou & the 2026 Canton Fair

• Anchor the fair dates first: choose the phase relevant to your work, then place flights and meetings around it.
• Make Hong Kong purposeful: include it because of your flight or business needs, not because every sourcing trip must start there.
• Use exact supplier addresses: an office, showroom and factory may be separate destinations.
• Choose each day's transport separately: a transfer, two scheduled pickups and a retained vehicle have different scopes.
• Plan the return load: samples and hotel luggage can change the vehicle requirement after arrival.
• Send the whole trip for a quote: flights, hotels, supplier addresses, fair dates, passengers and luggage belong in the same enquiry.

Seven days can be a useful planning window for selected exhibition days and a limited set of appointments. It is not enough to attend all three phases of the autumn fair. According to the official 140th Canton Fair introduction published by MOFCOM, the 2026 phases are October 15–19, October 23–27 and October 31–November 4. Changeovers are October 20–22 and October 28–30.

Start with the dates on which your relevant exhibitors are attending, not with an attractive seven-day calendar. If your required meetings span different phases, extend the trip or reduce another part of it. Do not treat a changeover day as an ordinary exhibition day, or assume suppliers are available simply because the halls are changing over.

The example here places fair visits on Days 4 and 5. That works only if those actual calendar dates fall within the phase you need. Move or remove days to fit the real dates. There is no requirement to keep Hong Kong, Shenzhen and a factory visit if they prevent you from completing the main business objective.

This plan is for buyers combining a fair visit with confirmed supplier meetings, small teams carrying samples and managers who need several different pickup and finishing addresses. It helps separate what must happen from what is merely convenient. A multi-day vehicle enquiry is useful when your team needs coordination across those different days.

If your entire trip is one flight, one Guangzhou hotel and the exhibition, a simpler airport transfer and local transport plan may be enough. If most suppliers can meet you at their booths, a factory day may not add value. Choose an itinerary that answers your procurement questions rather than the one with the most stops.

Illustrative itinerary: confirm it against flights, fair-phase dates, supplier addresses, appointment windows and traffic. The overnight locations are suggestions for discussion, not pre-booked rooms. No row guarantees a fixed arrival time or the number of meetings you can finish.

Day 1: make arrival a real part of the trip

Collect the flight number, arrival date and hotel address before arranging pickup. A scheduled landing time is not the time everybody will be standing outside with luggage. If colleagues arrive separately, decide whether each travels onward independently or the team waits at an agreed place.

Day 2: distinguish the border leg from domestic travel

Confirm the actual Shenzhen destination rather than requesting a transfer simply “to Shenzhen.” Hotel names, offices and production sites need full addresses. Discuss the crossing process for the itinerary and verify the travellers' applicable entry requirements through official channels before committing; a vehicle reservation does not provide immigration permission.

Keep any later meeting conditional on the whole journey, not just driving. If everyone has an inflexible morning meeting in Shenzhen, reconsider arriving the day before. Once in mainland China, the Shenzhen-to-Guangzhou leg is a different planning problem from the Hong Kong border crossing; do not copy clearance assumptions into every domestic transfer.

Day 3: allow the supplier meeting to take the time it needs

Confirm whether you are visiting a sales office, showroom or factory and who is receiving you. Get the Chinese address, map pin, entrance and host's phone number. If samples will be collected, ask about their packaging and dimensions before assigning the vehicle.

Moving to Guangzhou afterwards may be workable, but it should not force a technical discussion to end before the team has its answers. If the meeting is open-ended, compare a later transfer with changing the overnight plan. A day with one useful appointment is better than several appointments that exist only on paper.

Days 4 and 5: focus on the relevant fair phase

Check that both dates fall inside the phase you actually need. Arrange the important conversations before filling gaps with general browsing. Keep the booth details and contacts accessible, and verify exhibition entry arrangements independently of the transport booking.

For vehicle pickup, agree a permitted meeting point and a way to contact the coordinator. Do not assume a car can stop at every entrance shown on a hall map. At the end of Day 4, review any new samples, changed appointments and colleagues joining the next journey so the following day's plan stays current.

Day 6: choose a factory cluster or keep a reserve

Use this day for an agreed visit, not a speculative drive to an industrial area. One geographic cluster is a starting point for planning, not a quota of factories. Your host's availability and the purpose of the visit determine how much can fit.

Compare conditional one-, two- and three-day options in the Canton Fair factory visit guide. A follow-up meeting or sample collection may be more useful than adding another city.

Day 7: protect the onward journey

Use the airport and flight that are actually booked, not an assumed return through Hong Kong. Work backwards from the airline's requirements and the whole transfer, including any border leg if applicable. Tell the coordinator about the final luggage count and whether anyone has a different flight.

Avoid a final factory meeting with no agreed finish immediately before departure. If the last supplier is essential, move it earlier or extend the trip. A seven-day heading should not become a reason to accept an impractical connection.

Send all daily pickup and finishing addresses together. Ask what is included for stops, waiting, tolls, parking, applicable driver overnight costs and changes. Neither a single starting fare nor the cheapest airport transfer describes a week with supplier meetings.

Compare quotations against the same programme. If one includes waiting and another is only a drop-off, the totals are not equivalent. Confirm how a delayed meeting, added stop or hotel change will be handled. Do not assume every change is free, but do not assume every listed cost is extra either.

A seven-seat Toyota Alphard includes the driver, so the passenger ceiling is six. That is not a guarantee of space for six large cases plus sample boxes. Send a photograph of all luggage and the largest dimensions; identify equipment that must stay upright or cannot be stacked.

On a hotel-change day, room luggage may travel with the group during meetings. On the return journey, samples may increase the load even if passenger count is unchanged. Review the Alphard passenger and luggage guide, then confirm the actual loading plan rather than counting seats alone.

Goods requiring freight or specialist handling need a separate arrangement with an appropriate provider. Do not reserve space by blocking an aisle or holding rigid cases on laps. Keep passports, medication and important contact details accessible throughout hotel changes and visits.

Our service languages are English, Cantonese and Mandarin. A website translation does not guarantee a driver speaking that language, and direct English communication with the driver should also be confirmed where essential. Business interpreting and technical inspection are separate from transport coordination.

Verify travel documents, exhibition access and factory permission with the responsible authorities or hosts. This guide does not determine visa eligibility, guarantee border processing or secure supplier admission. Keep those checks visible on your task list instead of assuming the transport booking covers them.

1. List arrival and departure flights with dates, airports and travellers on each flight.
2. Mark the actual fair dates and phase, then identify meetings that cannot move.
3. Supply every hotel and supplier address, including entrances and host contacts.
4. Add passenger numbers and luggage or sample details for each day, not just arrival.
5. Distinguish transfers, return pickups and days needing waiting between appointments.
6. Confirm the final programme, inclusions, cost and change procedure in writing.

Send your flights, hotels, supplier addresses, fair dates, passenger count and luggage. Add appointment windows, sample collections and days when you need driver waiting. We can discuss the whole transport itinerary and provide a written quote without asking you to complete a long booking form first.

See the Canton Fair transfer and chauffeur service for the fair-day portion, but keep the airport, supplier and hotel moves in the same enquiry. The useful starting point is your real week, not a low one-way fare detached from it.

WhatsApp: plan my multi-day sourcing trip

Last reviewed: 23 September 2026. Fair dates refer to the cited official MOFCOM introduction to the 140th Canton Fair. The seven-day programme is an editorial example, not a measured route, confirmed booking or immigration assessment. Service scope follows existing transport information. Recheck dates, access, flights and operating arrangements before travel.