I have a layover in Guangzhou(sp?) and I was wondering if anybody knows of a market, like the one in Shanghai, near the Holiday Inn. I've had one L/O in CAN, but I didn't get the chance to explore much. I know you can buy all kinds of pets in the market right out the front door, but that's about it. Any info on markets and good places to go would be greatly appreciated. Muchas Gracias!

 

I went out with a Bus Capt on my last layover in CAN and he had not found a 'market' like the one in PVG...... yet. We used taxis and went to various districts in the city to shop for stuff. There's a watch area and for 2 -3 blocks there's nothing but watch vendors and everything to do with watches -- bands, faces, watch repair tools, etc.... And we were also not harassed at all by "copy watch..." and then the litany of watch makers.

I've got a 50+ hr layover coming up in Sept and would like some more local shopping gouge too if anyone has more to offer or suggest.

BTW, the Thai restaurant near the CAN Holiday Inn has excellent Thai food; some of the best in the system IMO.

 

some CAN gouge on pilotswap

 

The shopping area right out the hotel door to the left is one of the main reasons the hotel folks chose the Holiday Inn according to their e-mails. It's not exactly like PVG, but it's a 1/2 mile long walking street filled with clothes, some electronics, watches, and local restaurants.
If you get directions from the concierge to the old English port area on the island out the front door about 1/2 mile, you'll find the Indian restaurant (very good), a Subway shop, Starbucks, and several restaurants and bars right along the river. Actually fairly pleasant if it's not too hot.
I'm not quite as down on the location after my last visit, but I understand it still isn't as good an area as the hotel we are supposed to move to in the expat area of town.

 

I spent 3 days in CAN last year and tried finding a market similar to PVG. No luck. I tried 3 different hotel concierges and quite a few locals who spoke good English. I was surprised that one couldnt be found!

 

I was in CAN last week. The hotel had compiled a booklet with info on markets, restaurants, and other places of interest to FDX pilots. These booklets were placed on the desks of our rooms.

I went to two markets - the garment market and the leather market. Each was a $3 cab ride.

The garment market is spread over a large area encompassing many buildings. I never found significant items that we would want to purchase. However, some Aussies said that this is a great area. With more time to explore, you may find more than I did.

The leather market was definately worth the trip. 3 floors of over 100 shops with purses, wallets, belts, bags, etc. Absolutely no pressure. The vendors would show you the real leather and the fake leather, unlike my experiencees in PVG where they try to sell the fake leather first. The vendor's initial price is very close to the final price so there wasn't much room for negotiating. A very pleasant shopping experience. I was in the PVG market 2 days later and could not believe how diferent the two were.

 

You meant "spoke English well", right?

 

Yeah...thats it!

 

I went to those markets...down by the big train station I think. I was looking for the knock off stuff; North Fake, etc. Never found anything.

 

On another thread there was a warning about customs jacking up knock off stuff if you go to the EU. I deadheaded out to ICN on my last CAN trip and was surprised to see my bag locked up with a customs lock in baggage claim. I dont' know if they X-ray or sniff them in either Korea or China, but someone wanted a better look at my stuff.

I showed them the Yunan Baiyou herbal medicine I was (legally) taking back to the states. After some questions, they let me go without further molestation. I learned about that stuff in Taiwan as a kid, and it is used like neosporin in here on wounds. Its a superior anti-coagulatant and fixes cuts and scrapes pretty quickly. We also gave some internally to a hound dog we had that we thought would die of the parvo she contracted as a pup, but she turned the corner and went on to be a good hunter. My dad always swore that Yunan Baiyou was the trick...our vet had pretty much written her off as a lost cause by the time we forced some down her.

Never gave much thought to customs before but pondering the ramifications of getting jacked up in an Asian country for herbal medicines, I might not be so quick to just throw some stuff in my bag without thinking about what a customs official might ask about on the other end.