There are many Specialty Markets in Guangzhou. Here are some of our favorites. If you have favorites, pass them on. For Shopping Streets and Shopping Centers.

There are several. North and a block west of Haiyin Bridge.
Two others are near Zhongshan University. The one across from the Main Gate stretches for hundreds of meters. The other, west of the West Gate is smaller.

Behind the main train station.

Between Haizhu Square and the Stone House.

Kitty Corner Teem Mall & Beijing Lu.

Take the Metro Line #1 across the river to Fangcun. The taxi or walk a half kilometer west.

A great place for visitors. Many are Instant Antiquity Antiques, but if you like it and the price is right, go ahead. Its your money and your story to tell back home when you give the gift. or show off the conversation piece. Always bargain, walk away, then bargain some more.

Caveat Emptor is the rule even if you think you know Jade. Be Careful, be very careful. Just south of the Antique & Curios Market.

Northwest entrance of Hayin Bridge.

Head East of Team Plaza.

Wendeng Lu. South of Zhongshan 4 Road.

Lingyuan Xi Lu. To the north of China Plaza.

Huang Sha Da Dao. Near Shamian Island

MARKET TIPS

Hone your bargaining skills, check for product imperfections, inquire about wholesale minimums and always remember to bargain.

Gift and Leather markets - If something is a "must have", then inquire as to their wholesaler prices. Often, it's a fixed flat price RMB minimum of 100 or 200 RMB for the booth. You can end up getting a real bargain for yourself and Christmas presents for your mother, daughters, sisters, cousins and aunts.

Cloth & Material Markets - Check for dirt. Many of the stalls are sloppy when handling the material.

Antiques & Jade Markets - Fight the "must have this" mentality and be prepared to walk away. On several occasions, we have faced a first price of, perhaps 350RMB and negotiated down to below 40 RMB. If you can walk away, then 1 RMB is the bottom limit. So, bargain and enjoy yourself.

Tea Markets - We were very disappointed to find many low quality teas being pushed as high quality. We were extremely upset that some of the so called flower teas, had a color dye that came off in cold water. Country girls who know nothing of tea are often the salespeople. We found even the nicely designed chain stores often are more concerned with dumping dated overstock than selling quality products. See our tea adventure.

 
Our Secret - Silence may or may not be Golden, but it is often the primary key to saving your personal gold when buying in a negotiation market environment.. A negotiation needs two parties, if one is silent, the other can only talk or lower the price. If the sellers don't speak English, their only tool is a lower price. When sellers ask for counter offers, always remain silent. Rather, show the item to your partner. One of you point to a defect, real or imaginary, and then one or both of you shake your head "No".
Be prepared to walk away. If they call after you, come back and listen, then walk away again. Sometimes, we pull out the exact amount of money we want to pay and hold it at our side. The sight of the money and their realization they can reduce their bulging inventory stock and go home with cash in their pocket can be too much of a temptation to them. Guangzhou is a 'Show Me the Money' town. No one wants to say, Goodbye, to real cash. They will have regretful nightmares for weeks.

 
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