Why 10 days is the right length
A business trip to China runs into a paradox: you want to make every hour count, but the first 2 days inevitably go on adjusting. The time difference between Brazil and China is 11 to 12 hours, enough to throw your sleep and your thinking completely out of rhythm.
Trips of 5 to 6 days are possible for a single city with a tightly pre arranged schedule. But to cover two or three destinations properly, visit markets, meet suppliers, negotiate, formalise orders and collect samples, 10 days is the reasonable minimum.
The itinerary below covers the three cities that matter most to importers of consumer goods, technology and wholesale merchandise: Guangzhou (Canton Fair and foreign trade hub), Shenzhen (electronics and technology) and Yiwu (the largest wholesale market in the world). For other product profiles the same 10 days can be reconfigured, concentrating more days in one city or swapping Shenzhen for Foshan (furniture and ceramics).
This itinerary assumes: arrival in Guangzhou, via Shanghai or Guangzhou Baiyun. If your trip coincides with the Canton Fair (April or October), days 3 and 4 in Guangzhou become even more valuable. Outside the fair period, the same days go to visiting local markets and suppliers.
An itinerary that pays off comes from the map, not from chance: one day in your product’s own city is worth more than three walking generic aisles. Building the route around the map of China’s industrial clusters is what separates ten days of decisions from ten days of samples. For the Shenzhen leg, the guide on how the city divides by district saves hours of traffic a day. And before walking into the first meeting, it is worth reading how a Chinese room is read: it is in the guide on guanxi, mianzi and the table.
Before you go: the essential checklist
How productive your 10 days in China are is decided weeks before you board. Every missing item creates friction, and in China friction costs time and money.
- Passport valid for 6+ months beyond the return date, with a blank page
- Visa waiver confirmed: Brazilians with an ordinary passport need no visa for up to 30 days. See the complete visa guide.
- A VPN installed and tested on every device: install it before you arrive in China; inside the country the download is blocked
- An active WeChat account with a verified mobile number and profile photo, created and validated before you board
- Alipay set up with an international credit card linked for local payments
- An international or Chinese SIM planned: check the roaming cost with your operator or plan to buy a local SIM at the airport
- Bilingual business cards (Portuguese and Mandarin): 200 as a minimum
- A list of priority suppliers by city, with contact details and addresses
- Hotels booked close to each target market, not in the historic centre
- High speed train tickets booked in advance through the 12306 app or an agency
- A camera or smartphone with enough storage: you will photograph hundreds of products
- A tape measure and the specifications of the products you are after, printed or saved offline
The day by day itinerary
The journey from Brazil to Guangzhou takes between 26 and 32 hours, including the usual stopover in Shanghai, Dubai or Frankfurt. Arrive with calibrated expectations for the first 2 days.
- Day 1 (arrival): hotel check in, a light meal, an early night. Do not schedule meetings for arrival day, the time difference will collect its due
- Day 2 (getting oriented): buy a local SIM at the airport or an operator shop, open Alipay, set up DiDi. Make an exploratory visit to the nearest market with no negotiating agenda: the point is to calibrate your eye and understand how the markets work
- Change some money into yuan (RMB): useful for taxis, street food and small purchases in the markets
- Eat early and sleep 8 hours: day 3 is when the real work starts
With the time difference starting to settle, days 3 and 4 are the first of real work. How you structure them depends on when you travel:
- If it falls during the Canton Fair (April or October): give both days to the fair at the Pazhou Complex. Prioritise the halls for your product category. Do not try to see everything: the Canton Fair has more than 60 halls and covering them all is physically impossible. Read the complete Canton Fair guide.
- Outside the fair period: day 3 in the Zhongda textile district (fabrics, knitwear, trims) and Yide Road (toys, household goods, sports items). Day 4 for Foshan and Lecong (furniture, ceramics) if relevant to your product
- Set aside 2 hours each afternoon to review notes, organise contacts and write up the specifications of the products that caught your interest
- Dinner with local suppliers is common and well regarded. Accept the invitation if it comes: it is part of building the commercial relationship
From Guangzhou to Shenzhen: 1 hour by intercity metro (the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express line) or by high speed train. Leaving early in the morning gets you there with the whole day ahead.
- Day 5: Huaqiangbei, the largest electronics market in the world. Start at the SEG Electronics Market (the central building, 8 floors) for an overview, then work through the adjacent buildings by category (components, finished goods, accessories, LED)
- Day 6: pre arranged factory visits in Greater Shenzhen or Dongguan, essential for anyone after OEM or larger volumes. Without a pre arranged schedule, this day can go to deepening negotiations in Huaqiangbei or visiting the LED hub in Zhongshan (1h by ferry or train)
- Shenzhen has excellent international food. Take the chance for a more relaxed dinner before the journey to Yiwu
The journey from Shenzhen to Yiwu takes between 3h30 and 4h30 by high speed train, with several departures through the day. Book the ticket in advance through the 12306 app.
- Leave in the morning so you reach Yiwu with time to check in and scout the market area
- In the afternoon, make a quick exploratory visit to District 1 or 3 of the Yiwu International Trade City, with no buying agenda, just to get a feel for the space ahead of the next days
- Check the map of the Yiwu districts and plan the routes for days 8 and 9 by product category. Read the complete Yiwu Trade Fair guide.
With the district plan set the evening before, days 8 and 9 are the most intensive buying days of the whole itinerary.
- Day 8: work through the priority districts (usually 1 to 2 districts a day, given the scale of the market). For each product of interest: assess the sample, confirm material and specifications, photograph it, take the business card and note the price. Do not negotiate yet: complete the reconnaissance first
- Day 9: go back to the stands shortlisted the day before and negotiate. With the previous day as a benchmark, you know who has the best product and can bargain comparatively. Put the order intentions in writing: specifications, quantity, price, lead time and payment terms. Request formal samples for the approved products
- Keep the last hour of day 9 to organise every document, card and note gathered along the trip
From Yiwu to Shanghai Hongqiao: 2 hours by high speed train. Most flights to Brazil leave from Shanghai Pudong (PVG), 1 hour by metro from the centre.
- If the flight is at night, use the day for follow up meetings in Shanghai, visiting the office of a supplier represented in the city, or simply resting before the long journey back
- Send a brief thank you on WeChat to every supplier you intend to work with: it matters culturally and reinforces how serious your intent is
- File every business card, photograph and document by city and supplier before you board: the memory of those 10 days fades fast on the flight home
Estimated cost of the trip
The figures below cover the infrastructure of the 10 day trip: flights, accommodation, transport and food. They exclude the value of goods purchased and any specialist support services.
| Item | Estimate (budget) | Estimate (comfort) |
|---|---|---|
| Return airfare | R$ 8.000 – R$ 10.000 | R$ 12.000 – R$ 18.000 |
| Accommodation (10 nights) | US$ 60–80/night = US$ 600–800 | US$ 120–200/night = US$ 1,200–2,000 |
| Internal transport (trains, metro, DiDi) | US$ 200–300 | US$ 350–500 |
| Food (US$ 30–70/day) | US$ 300–400 | US$ 500–700 |
| Communications (SIM, VPN) | US$ 40–60 | US$ 60–100 |
| Miscellaneous | US$ 150–200 | US$ 250–400 |
| Estimated total | R$ 22.000 – R$ 28.000 | R$ 32.000 – R$ 45.000 |
These figures vary with the dollar and yuan exchange rates, the time of year (the Canton Fair pushes up hotel prices in Guangzhou) and your choice of airline. The investment in travel infrastructure should always be weighed against the buying potential the trip unlocks: a single well qualified supply relationship can recover the cost of the trip in a handful of orders.
What to pack
- A universal adaptor: Chinese sockets are types A, I and C. Business hotels usually have adaptors, but bring your own
- A high capacity power bank: long days in the markets with navigation, photos and WeChat drain a battery fast
- A laptop or tablet for recording specifications, storing photos and writing daily summaries
- Business cards (200 or more) in Portuguese and Mandarin. Exchange them with ceremony: offer and receive with both hands
- A flexible tape measure: for measuring products on the stands, far quicker than asking the seller
- A notebook or printed product sheets: for noting references, prices and observations at the stand, offline
- Small zip lock bags: for organising and labelling material and component samples picked up in the markets
- Comfortable clothes for walking: the markets are covered on foot for hours, and comfortable shoes are essential
Mistakes people make on their first trip
1. Arriving with no supplier schedule. Turning up to see what comes along means days of random wandering. The best suppliers are not the most visible ones, they are the ones you booked in advance.
2. Booking a hotel far from the markets. Staying in the historic or tourist centre of Guangzhou when the markets are in Haizhu or Tianhe costs 45 minutes each way: hours lost every day.
3. Trying to cover everything in 5 days. Anyone arriving with 3 cities on a 5 day schedule ends up negotiating properly in none of them. Haste signals a lack of seriousness to the supplier and weakens your bargaining position.
4. Closing orders on the first market day. The best price is rarely at the first stand. Get to know the market first, compare benchmarks and negotiate with information rather than urgency.
5. Ignoring the language barrier. Google Translate handles the basics, but it does not replace a business interpreter when you are discussing technical specifications, lead times and payment terms. Differences of 15 to 30% in the final price are common between those who negotiate in Mandarin and those who do not.
6. Not checking regulatory compliance before buying. Coming home with closed orders for products that need INMETRO, ANVISA or MAPA approval, without the right certificates, is the direct route to having your cargo held at customs. Check before you buy, not afterwards.
How BCVN transforms this itinerary
The itinerary above describes what is possible in 10 days. What BCVN does is turn the possible into the assured, removing the wasted time, the negotiating mistakes and the risks that inevitably come with a business trip run without local support.
Before the trip:
- A shortlist of suppliers by category and city, with a verified profile
- A schedule arranged in advance, with meetings booked in the relevant markets
- Optimisation of the itinerary for your product type and travel dates
- A market briefing: benchmark prices, normal margins, red flags to watch for
During the trip:
- On the ground support with a Mandarin business interpreter
- Telling manufacturers from traders in each market
- Price negotiation against real local market benchmarks
- Review of order terms and contracts before signing
- Regulatory compliance checks (INMETRO, ANVISA, MAPA) in real time
After you return:
- Production follow up with the suppliers
- PSI quality inspection before shipment, with a technical report
- Logistics support for consolidation and shipping to Brazil
The practical result: a business owner who travels to China with BCVN closes in 10 days the equivalent of 3 to 6 months of remote prospecting, with verified suppliers, negotiated prices and goods inspected before they leave the country. For how the country works day to day, payment by app, the filtered internet, high-speed rail and food by region, the manual is in eating, getting around and surviving in China.
Frequently asked questions
Is 10 days enough for a business trip to China?
Yes. Ten days is a productive window for a first trip or for covering 2 to 3 main cities. It allows 2 days in Guangzhou, 2 in Shenzhen and 2 in Yiwu, plus the travel days. If you are visiting only one city, 5 to 6 days can be enough. Shorter trips tend to be poorly used: the first 2 days go on adjusting to the time difference and getting your bearings in the markets.
What does a business trip to China cost on average?
Counting the return flight (R$ 8,000 to R$ 15,000), accommodation (US$ 80 to US$ 150 per night), internal travel (US$ 300 to US$ 500) and meals and general expenses (US$ 50 to US$ 80 per day), the infrastructure cost of a 10 day trip runs between R$ 20,000 and R$ 35,000. That excludes the value of the goods purchased and any support services such as an interpreter and inspections.
Do I need a visa to travel to China?
No. Since June 2025, Brazilians holding an ordinary passport can enter China without a visa for stays of up to 30 days. For a 10 day trip the waiver is enough. The passport must be valid for at least 6 months beyond the return date and have at least one blank page. For longer stays or paid work, a specific visa is still required.
How does payment work in China?
China is effectively cashless: most payments go through Alipay or WeChat Pay by QR code. Foreigners can link an international credit card to Alipay for basic use. For larger payments (hotels, goods in the markets), Visa and Mastercard are accepted at larger establishments, but not always in the wholesale markets. It is worth carrying some cash in yuan (RMB) for smaller expenses.
Can I place orders during the trip, or is it only for prospecting?
Both are possible, and placing orders during the trip is common, especially samples and smaller first orders. For larger orders the standard process is to negotiate during the trip and formalise through a proforma invoice after you return, with a partial payment (usually 30%) to start production. There is no obligation to close everything in person: the visit exists to qualify the supplier and set the basis of the negotiation.
Which hotel should I pick in Guangzhou to be close to the markets?
During the Canton Fair, the advice is to stay near the Pazhou Complex: the Haizhu and Tianhe districts have good options. To visit the Zhongda textile district, hotels in central Guangzhou (Yuexiu or Haizhu) are convenient. In Shenzhen, the Huaqiangbei district has a good supply of business hotels at reasonable prices. In Yiwu, the city centre is a few minutes from the market.