Canton Fair Finds | Guangzhou, China (Part 4)

✨How are things going, Hivers? I hope all's merry and well in your end. ✨

I've been spending extra hours at work these past weeks, our ongoing project has started to pick up and some transitions in my team's structure are taking place, too. But despite that I'm excited to piece this post together and revisit this business trip in Guangzhou, China a couple of years back.

I've previously shared our journey to Guangzhou from Cebu, our funny experience in a local restaurant, and a sneak peek on the Canton Fair Complex's architectural wonder, and today, guess what? I will finally bring you inside the biggest trade show in China. As much as possible, I'll try my best to describe in details all that I've experienced during the fair.

Game on? Game on! 💪

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First things first: Registration

It was a brand new day in Guangzhou. A day we've all been looking forward to. I'm not sure if it's the usual weather in China but it was gloomy. I mean the sky was all gray but the temperature was like the usual days in Philippines.

By this time, we already met with our partners in China. And they drove us from our hotel to the Canton Fair Complex. Transit time took only around 15 minutes since we booked a hotel nearby.

Upon arrival in the fair, all that I could think of was It must've been wonderful to be part of the organizing committee. And speaking of organization, my personal experience the moment I stepped inside the entrance where all the pre-fair registration and validation happened was superb. There were thousands of guests, visitors from all over the globe but they managed everyone's needs both those who've registered online and those who were still registering onsite. Everything was fast and instructions were clear and straightforward.

In no time, we found ourselves moving towards the trade hall. I must say we were early; it was necessary so we can cover more trade halls within three days. We had no difficulty navigating the indoor exhibition area of 338,000m² and the outdoor exhibition area of 43,600m² as our Purchasing Manager and Marketing Manager had been coming to the fair every single year. Aileen and I followed their lead.

It was my first time in Canton Fair. Although I've attended a number of local trade shows in the Philippines and became an exhibitor in THAIFEX a year prior to our visit in China, I knew this visit will change the way I perceive fairs and the business landscape in general.

Forgive my ignorance, but the moment I saw walkalators after walkalators on this path connecting Area A/B to Area C of the Canton Fair Complex, it came to me that the entire complex must be terrible massive in size. I did no research about the complex; I'm confident I'll make it because I'm with our managers. There were even small shuttles for those who don't want to walk or ride the walkalators, imagine that!

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Canton Fair Finds

We strategically planned our route so we can cover as many trade halls as possible. On Day 1 and Day 2, we planned on covering all four (4) floors of Area C covering Halls 14-16 where Toys and Household Items were showcased. These things are what we're trying to look for as our nonfood promotional items that year.

I once heard a joke that "God made the world and everything else is made in China". This crossed my mind when we started entering one hall after the other. It's true that it's easier to believe things exist when you could personally see and experience it. I literally dropped my mouth open as I realized that indeed everything one will ever need is in China.

From tumblers/liquid containers in all sizes, shapes, colors, materials...

To steelwares in all shapes and sizes you could think of...

At some point we got ourselves a free foldable trolley/cart where we put all brochures, samples and magazines we got from the exhibitors.

Before we knew it, it was already past 2 in the afternoon. So we got our lunch in the Canton Fair Complex canteen at the ground floor just beside Area C. Honestly I didn't know what to order thanks to the photos in their menu I was guided! Food wasn't exceptional; it was greasy and bland but I still ate it, there's no Jollibee nearby! 😅

After having a quick lunch, we immediately resumed to our search for whatever's new and enticing in the fair. We found these cute and colorful lunchboxes which could be perfect for one of our promotions. I wouldn't tell you how each costs for you'll never want to buy the overpriced items in local our stores.

You'll also see weird stuff just like these...

And some other things we've seen at the fair...

When we were about to finish the day's work, we found this. It could be perfect for our hotdog promotions. Imagine the hotdogs on the bigger portion of the countainer and the sauce (catsup or whatever) will be on the smaller portion. Moms will never be worried about catsup spilling and taking over the entire container. This idea didn't push through tho. With our current sales, we don't really need promotions. 😎

At 5:30 PM, we called it a day. We met with our China partners and took a breather outside the halls.

As what can be observed from the photos above, our managers from the company I'm working with were the coolest bunch one could ever worked with. Sadly our VP for Sales and Marketing and National Sales Manager didn't come with us; it would've been more fun with them around. We exited the fair complex via Langham Place and waited for our partners to fetch us there.

Canton fair exceeded my expectations in all aspects and although I was tired to the bones, I was still excited to explore more of Guangzhou. Of course, all work and no play doesn't sound appealing, right? Now you have an idea what my next write-up about Guangzhou will be all about.

Dropping another hint! And I guess, we've come to the part where I say, see you in my next post! 😁

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