Guangzhou has more than 1,000 wholesale markets, selling more than 40 kinds of commodities, including clothing, dry food, toys, and fruits. The week before the Chinese New Year are busy shopping days, with stores in the wholesale markets hoping to clear out inventory before the New Year. For customers, it's a great time to find real bargains. Since it is a tradition to buy new items for the lunar New Year, Silk Road Post has selected a number of markets to help people prepare for the festive days.

1 Clothing
As a bustling clothing wholesale market, Shisanhang (十三行) in the New China Plaza building is an ideal place for price-sensitive buyers. Almost every store in the market offers deals on clothing, including coats, knitwear, sweaters, suits, shirts, and jeans. With one hundred yuan, you can buy two coats, three pairs of jeans, or four sweaters here. However, if you are more of a fashion lover, ARA apM may be your best choice. Newly opened last September, this well decorated market provides buyers a bright and comfortable shopping environment. It features fashion Japanese and Korean style clothing. The market also sells shoes, bags, and accessories.


Venue: New China Plaza 新中国大厦
Address: No. 1 Shisanhang Lu, Liwan district 荔湾区十三行路1号
How to get there: Metro line 6, Cultural Park Station, Exit A

Venue: ARA apM
Address: No. 195 Zhanqian Lu, Liwan district 荔湾区站前路195号
How to get there: Metro line 5, Guangzhou Railway Station, Exit H
  
2 Dried goods
It is important to prepare food for family reunions and feasting, and that means purchasing traditional Chinese seafood and dried goods. Yide Lu is notable for its dried seafood: sea cucumber, oyster, abalone, cuttlefish, scallop, fish maw and much more. But it also sells an endless variety of dried goods such as mushrooms, cubilose (the key ingredient for birds nest soup), melon seeds, peanuts, walnuts, and red dates. Besides, Yide Lu sells various kinds of biscuits and candies. Silk Road Post strongly recommends you to buy gift box of biscuits, which is 20 to 30 percent cheaper than usual.

Compared with the past, local citizens are pickier about food for the Spring Festival. Many people are no longer satisfied with traditional dried goods such as melon seeds and peanuts. They are more likely to try new tastes and buy dried fruits and vegetables, like dried figs.

Venue: Yide Lu Wholesale Market 一德路批发市场
Address: No. 265-279 Yide Lu, Yuexiu district 越秀区一德路265-279号
How to get there: Metro line 6, Yide Lu station, Exit A
  
3 Toys and gifts
Onelink Plaza in Yuexiu district is a landmark wholesale center of toys and gifts, with 40,000 square meters of wholesale outlets. The first nine floors house a huge variety of shops, while the rest of the building is occupied by offices and private showrooms. Almost everything you can think of can be found here, from the tackiest plastic soldiers and festive decorations to high-end action figures and high-tech drones.

In addition to Onelink Plaza, many smaller outlets spill over into nearby markets, such as the Zhonggang Boutique Toys Wholesale Market (中港玩具精品批发城), which is located on the south side of Yide Lu, and the International Toys Market (国际玩具批发中心) and the Toys, Models and Comics Wholesale Center (海珠玩具模型动漫批发市场) to the north.

Red envelopes decorated with pictures of rat (Chinese zodiac animal of 2020) are one of the favorite items among citizens. Many stores run out of stock and need emergent replenishment. You can buy three or four packs of red envelopes with just 10 yuan.

Venue: Onelink Plaza 万菱广场
Address: No. 39 Jiefang Nanlu, Yuexiu district 越秀区解放南路39号
How to get there: Metro lines 6 or 2, Haizhu Square Station, Exit B2
 
4 Fruits
With an area of around 400,000 square meters, Jiangnan Market is one of the largest wholesale markets in the world. The market is estimated to be the entry point to around 80% of the fruits imported to the China mainland. It is not merely a distribution center, but also a gauge for the national fruit market to analyze the country’s demand and set the prices of imported fruits. You can easily buy various kinds of fresh imported fruits at relatively low prices in this market.

The demand for imported fruits increases year by year during the Spring Festival holiday. Fruits in the market now are mainly from Southeast Asia and South America, such as cherries and mangos.

Jiangnan Market has developed an online platform named “江楠鲜品” for customers to purchase fruits. People can place order and enjoy quick delivery of fruits on the platform.

Venue: Jiangnan Wholesale Fruit and Vegetable Market 江南蔬果批发市场
Address: No. 926 Zengcha Lu, Baiyun district 白云区增槎路926号
How to get there: Bus No. 521 to Dongwang Market station (东旺市场站)