06 · Yangtze River Delta
Shanghai
The port and the showroom. Shanghai is where the Yangtze Delta sends its samples, and where your forwarder keeps the container.
What this belt makes
What you can source in Shanghai
Shanghai sits in the Yangtze River Delta. You land at PVG and can be on a factory floor the same afternoon. This is what most buyers cover in 3–4 days.
A port with a showroom
Shanghai is not a factory town. It is where the Yangtze Delta brings samples, where trading companies keep offices, and where your container is booked. Most of the factories are 90 minutes away in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. We use the city as a control room and travel out for the visits.
Textiles in the delta
Keqiao, in Shaoxing, is the fabric market that supplies much of the world's polyester. It is 1 hour 30 from Shanghai by train. Nantong, for home textiles, is about the same. One day each, with a car at the station, is enough to price a collection and order the first metre.
The sample room and the invoice
Shanghai trading companies are professional, expensive and useful. They keep sample rooms, handle export documents and can consolidate goods from five provinces. The margin is 3 to 8 per cent. We compare that against buying direct and tell you when the trading company is the cheaper option.
Two airports, one plan
Pudong handles the long-haul flights; Hongqiao is 30 minutes from the centre and connects to the high-speed network. Yiwu is 1 hour 30 away, Suzhou 25 minutes, Hangzhou 45. We pick the airport by the first meeting, not by the fare, because the transfer cost is usually the fare difference.
Before you book
Three things to settle first
When to come
The best months are March–May, October–November. Factories and sample rooms are fully stocked then, and the fair calendar is in full swing.
How long to stay
Most buyers give Shanghai 3–4 days. Add a day if you want factory visits outside the city.
How to arrive
Fly into PVG. We collect you and book the first meeting for the same afternoon.
Next stop
Add these to the same trip
Each of these cities is inside two hours of Shanghai. Most buyers add one of them to the same week.
Tell us the product. We will build the route.
Send your spec sheet and target price. We reply with a city list, a day rate and a route that fits your factory hours.