Are you planning a trip to the Guangzhou fabric market? I hope this article will be helpful for you.:) There’s a super huge fabric market zone in Guangzhou, where you can find any textile and accessories you want from home and abroad. I will introduce the accessories part in a separate article.
It’s called Zhongda Fabric Market. Actually, it is name after Sun Yat-sen University. As it is only hundreds meters away from Sun Yat-sen University, which is called Zhongshan Daxue in Chinese Pinyin. So “Zhongda” is the abbreviation of the pinyin/mandarin. When we say Zhongda, most of people will come up the famous University in Guangzhou. But for people in the fashion line, they will know it means the fabric market. We may say that it is a fabric wholesale market zone with shops everywhere. There’re several buildings, which are quite distinct from each other. Some are known for cheap price; some are for mainly fur/ leather… Most of foreigners prefer to go to Guangzhou International Textile & Fabric Market where you can find everything in one stop, better quality and it keeps up with trends. So we mainly introduce this one here.
Guideline
A Building With 9 Floors
Guangzhou International Textile & Fabric market has 300,000 square meters. It is a building of 9 floor with more than 4,000 shops and it is divided into A/B/C/D/E/F areas.
Always remember to keep the shops’ contact and address, if you want to go back to them a bit later. Or it would take a while to find them with so many shops. For example, you can tell where a shop is from the address.
Guangzhou International textile & fabric market has 9 floors. -2 F – Parking lot -1 F – Accessories (we will discuss this in next article.)
1F – Silk, print fabric and mainly jersey. If you are looking for some single jersey, french fleece, french terry, stripe or rib, you could take a look at Area C and F.
2F-4F – Different types of fabric. 2F has quite a lot fabric for Autumn and Winter. Quality is better and price is bit higher.
5F-6F – Fabric companies office area (not open to public)
7 F – Catering area for a break
Opening Hours - Fabric Market
Opening Hours: 9am – 7pm
1-2 days off for National Holidays. Fabric market close around 20 days to 1 month during Chinese New Year.
Fabric Sourcing
You can see that there’re thousands of fabric swatches/ cards displayed in the shops waiting to be picked up. You can take them if there’s anything you are interested. You may find some sellers don’t have swatches, but you can ask them for it. Then they will cut a piece of it to you with their business name cards .You can ask the sellers for price as well. They will write the price on the fabric swatches you take. Sellers information are on the cards, especially wechat. You can contact them and find them easily with that. You can just send the pictures of the swatches to your factories, they will know exactly which fabric you need and where and how to contact the seller. Then go get the fabric to make samples for you or production.
Fabric Purchasing
Remember to ask if the fabric is in stock. If not, ask them MOQ(minimum order quantity) and fabric lead time. It is a matter whether you can go with this fabric or not. If you only need a few meters to make samples first, and the seller will sell to you with an extra fee. If you order the fabric less than a whole roll of fabric, there’s extra fee as well. They called it cutting fee. They prefer the sell bulk fabric by rolls. If a roll of fabric is cut and only left several meters, it is hard for them to sell it. That’s why they charge extra fee.
Address & Transportation
Address: 2nd Jinfang Road, Haizhu District, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
Post code: 510260.
Address in Chinese: 中国广东省广州市海珠区金纺路2号 510260.
How to get to Guangzhou International textile & fabric market?
- Taxi: please show below address in Chinese to the driver and they will know where you are up to. 广州国际轻纺城，中国广东省广州市海珠区金纺路2号
- Bus: You can take 69 / 88 / 178 / 184 / 188/190 /197 / 206 /208 / 247 Get off at Sun Yat-sen University
- Subway/Metro Line 8 – Sun Yat-sen University – Exit D (This is the most convenient way √) Here’s a direction to the Guangzhou International textile & fabric market after get out form Exit D metro station.
Update: Watch the Video Guide from the nearest metro station to Guangzhou International Textile & Fabric Market 🎥
In the video, I walk you through the exact route step by step, so you can follow along if you’re visiting for the first time. Don’t forget to watch out for electric motorcycle while crossing the street!
Hotels Nearby
Actually, the market is too big to go through for 1 day. As far as I know, foreign clients prefer to spend around 2 days in market every time they come. It is a good idea to stay in a hotel which is close to it. You can browse Guangzhou International textile & fabric market (中大国际轻纺城)/ Xingang Xi Lu (新港西路)to see if there’s any hotels you like.
Hotel Recommendation:
- Zhujiang New Town area If you want a better journey in Guangzhou, maybe think about hotels in Zhujiang New Town area. Take the metro Line 3 at Zhujiang New Town station to Kecun then transfer to Line 8 to Sun Yat-sen University (4 stops in total) Zhujiang New Town is a new CD. It is more convenient during your trip in GZ.
- Xiaobei /Taojin area You can find quite a lot foreigner in Xiaobei /Taojin area. So it is also a good idea to stay around here. It is also close to Guangzhou Railway station where there’re a huge clothing wholesale market.
Tips For Visiting Guangzhou Fabric Market
- Go to the market in the morning. It is less crowded as afternoon. In the afternoon, there’re quite a lot vehicles and cars. Workers take fabric rolls from the warehouse to their shops. Factories/ buyers take the fabric back.
- Check it out at 1-4F, you will get what you want.
- Each shop has fabric swatches displayed. If you like, you can get them for free. Oh, remember to take a large bags/suitcase. For sure, you will take many swatches and they are heavy. 🙂
- To save time, you can show pictures to the shoppers and they will tell if the one you’re looking for is available or not in their shops.
- You may find same fabric from different shops. That’s because the fabric is from the same fabric mill. The price may be different, but the quality is same. If the price varies too much, please be aware. Sometimes it is tricky on the price. For example, a fabric is sold at 8 RMB per meter, you pay 800 RMB to purchase 100 meters, you may actually just get around 85-90 meters. So it is not cheap as it quotes.
- Always keep the shortage rate in mind when purchasing fabric
- When asking for the fabric price, always remember to ask about the discrepancy in the fabric length. For example, if the seller said that fabric price is 9 yuan per meter, but there is a shortage of 10%, the actual price should be 9 divided by 0.9, which equals 10 yuan per meter.
- If you need 2 meters of fabric per piece of clothing, the actual cost per piece will be 20 yuan. To make 100 pieces, you should purchase at least 223 meters of fabric (200 divided by 0.9). If you forget to account for the shortage and only buy 200 meters, you’ll end up needing an additional 23 meters. This could cause issues due to potential color variations between batches or fabric being out of stock, leading to delays.
- Since there are shops selling same fabric, if the fabric is be out of stock in one shop, but maybe you could go check in the other one.
- If you’d like to get some fabric for sampling, normally minimum order for sample fabric is 2 meters. After you order, the shopper will have the fabric cut and sent from their warehouse. You can go to their shops to take the fabric yourselves when it’s arrived. Or you can leave your hotel address and express to you. It is on your cost, but it is cheap. It depends on the weight. For instance, 2 meters of fabric costs approx. 20-30 RMB for express fee.
- Usually, there’s extra cost for purchasing fabric for sampling. 10-40 RMB more per meter than order in bulk. You can ask the suppliers the price for bulk and sampling fabric.
- If you want to order the fabric, ask the suppliers if the fabric is in stock. If not available, ask the MOQ to see if you could meet. Also, remember to ask for lead time.
- Fabric are sold by rolls. If you don’t need that much, there is extra charge for that. You need to double check with them.
- Some shops are not allowed to take photos. It is great to ask them first.
- Use WeChat. 🙂 Every sellers are available in WeChat. Add the sellers to your friend list. Then you can contact them and order fabric. They usually share new arrival fabric in wechat moments. You may find some you like and you can purchase and no need to go the market.
That’s all. Hope it helps. Welcome to leave me a comment. 🙂
Need Help Sourcing Fabric?
Navigating the fabric market in Guangzhou can be challenging, but you don’t have to do it alone. I can help you source the best fabrics, place your orders, and ensure smooth shipping to your location. Let’s make your fabric sourcing process seamless and hassle-free. Feel free to reach out—I’m here to help!
4 Responses
What bus i used if i am in guangyuan street in tongtong hotel to zhongda fabrics
Hi Lan, I’d suggest you taking the subway as it’s quicker, though you’ll need to walk a bit more.
You can choose either of the following two options:
Bus (longer, less walking):
-Take Bus 7 from Wang Shengtang Station (14 stops)
-Transfer to Bus 184 at Baiyun Road Station (5 stops)
-Get off at Sun Yat-sen University Bus Station
-Walk around 400 meters to Zhongda Fabric Market
-Total time: ~1 hour 24 minutes
Subway (faster, more walking):
-Take Line 2 from Sanyuanli Station (8 stops)
-Transfer to Line 8 at Changgang Station (2 stops)
-Get off at Zhongda Station (Exit D)
-Walk 15 minutes to Zhongda Fabric Market
-Total time: ~51 minutes
Hope this helps.:)
Hi, Stella, I will be in Guangzhou Sep 8-15. Can I get your help shopping for 6-ply silk (六层丝 liù céng sī)?
Hi Marina, Sure. I’ve replied you via email. Please check. Thank you!