France to Foshan: 11 h nonstop to Guangzhou Baiyun (CAN), 48 minutes by road to Lecong, 30 days visa-free.
- Flight
- 11 h nonstop
- Entry
- 30 days visa-free
- Transfer
- 48 min from CAN
- Visit
- Four to five days
- Guide day
- USD 150 / day
- Pickup
- USD 149
Sourcing trip · Europe
France to Foshan: Paris nonstop, then compare like for like
Paris flies nonstop to Guangzhou and to Shenzhen, eleven hours either way, and French buyers usually want upholstery, case goods and lighting compared in one continuous sweep. The order only holds together if the quotation can be reconstructed line by line afterwards.
- Flight
- 11 hNonstop
- Entry
- Visa-free30 days, no visa needed
- Allow
- Four to five daysin Foshan
- Airport pickup
- $149Credited back within 6 months
France to Foshan: 11 h nonstop to Guangzhou Baiyun (CAN), 48 minutes by road to Lecong, 30 days visa-free.
- Flight
- 11 h nonstop
- Entry
- 30 days visa-free
- Transfer
- 48 min
- Visit
- Four to five days
- Guide day
- USD 150 / day
- Pickup
- USD 149
Getting here
Schedules change with the season — confirm the operating carrier before booking. The airport code is the part that stays put.
Entry rules for French travellers
30 days, visa-free. Ordinary passports enter visa-free for up to 30 days for business, tourism or transit. The waiver currently runs to 31 December 2026.
French passports enter visa-free for 30 days, valid through 31 December 2026.
- Without a visa
- 30 days per entry
- On what basis
- Unilateral visa-free entry
- Current term runs to
- 31 December 2026
- Visa on arrival
- No — port visas only for urgent business, with an invitation
- Airside transit
- Under 24 h, no visa if you stay airside
CarryReturn ticket · Hotel booking · Invitation letter for business
Waivers were extended repeatedly through 2025–2026 and several expire on 31 December 2026. Confirm the current term with the Chinese embassy before paying for flights.
Airport pickup, $149 — refunded when you order
- Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Macau, Zhuhai, Dongguan, Zhongshan
- Drop at your hotel — or straight to a showroom if you land early, with parking and tolls settled
On a 08:10 landing the transfer reaches Lecong about an hour later — enough daylight for one showroom.
Example vehicles; the exact car is confirmed the day before. Photos: Wikimedia Commons — Dinkun Chen CC BY-SA 4.0, CC0 — not our vehicles.
A paid service, not a free transfer: one arrival, one vehicle, one drop-off. Parking included; tolls at cost. The credit is valid for six months from your arrival date.
Landing, then the transfer
Three doors into the Pearl River Delta. Which one you use is a fare decision; the ground leg is what moves your first showroom.
Do not plan on the Hong Kong ferry. The Shunde Port passenger service was suspended on 16 July 2026 with no restart date announced. Older guides still recommend it.
The days on the ground
Five days is the useful minimum for a whole home or a hotel brief. Appointments are booked before you land, and each evening you get a written recap of what you saw and what is still open.
- Day 1
Land and calibrate
Land, transfer, rest — then a short walk through Lecong to calibrate prices
- Day 2
Lecong showrooms
Lecong showrooms against your list: two or three options per line, photographed and priced
- Day 3
Longjiang factories
Longjiang: frames, foam, fabric and finish, seen at the factory rather than in a room set
- Day 4
Custom work and samples
Custom pieces, cabinetry and building materials; evening recap with written notes
- Day 5
Sign-off
Confirm the shortlist, agree deposits, and leave with a signable specification
Field noteOutside the malls, touts on motorbikes offer to find you parking or a cheaper factory. Ignore them; buyers have been followed and overcharged.森森很会买, Xiaohongshu
Field noteBring trainers. A day through the malls runs to five figures of steps and the floor is concrete.Ari_, Xiaohongshu
Where the days are actually spent
Contract pieces come from factories that already build to a fire and wear standard. Hotel and resort briefs need the contract line and the factory behind it in the same day. Upholstery is where showroom prices and factory prices diverge most, so both ends are worth seeing.
Lecong 乐从
Trading malls and room-set showrooms. A hundred sofas in a morning, priced retail-facing. The shortlist starts here.
Longjiang 龙江
Sofa and upholstery factories. Come here after the malls, when you want to know what the price is made of.
Chancheng 禅城
The city centre. A practical base, flagship showrooms, kitchen and bathroom.
Dongguan 东莞
The export factories, 90 minutes away — for buyers who need a plant that already builds to a foreign standard.
Where to stay
Where you sleep decides how much of the day you spend in a car.
Sofitel Foshan 佛山罗浮宫索菲特酒店
Inside the Louvre furniture complex. You can walk from the lobby to the malls, which removes the daily commute that eats a sourcing trip.
Crowne Plaza Foshan 佛山皇冠假日酒店（原佛山宾馆）
walkable dinner · value
Days Inn by Wyndham Foshan Shijilian 戴斯温德姆酒店(佛山世纪莲体育中心店)
2 km from the malls · parking
Straight-line distance from the Lecong furniture anchor. Ratings: Google Places and Amap, 31 Oct 2026.
Where to eat
Showroom days run long and the malls close at 18:30. These are worth walking to afterwards.
Ratings and average spend from Amap, retrieved 2026-10-31. Hours and closures change — confirm before booking a table for guests.
What French buyers get caught on
- 0120% VAT on import plus duty. For a French importer the VAT is recoverable, but it still has to be funded before the goods clear.
- 02CE marking applies where a directive covers the product; French buyers also ask for a declaration of conformity and, for contract work, fire-performance evidence to the relevant French standard.
- 03EUTR timber due diligence sits with the importer, and the French market is strict on species documentation for tropical hardwoods.
- 04French contract and hospitality buyers often work from a CCTP or a written programme — send it rather than a mood board, and the comparison becomes faster, not slower.
- 05Lighting is bought in Guzhen, an hour from Foshan, and trucked to the warehouse to join the container. A separate lighting shipment almost never makes sense.
Practical specification checks, not certification advice. Confirm current requirements with your importer or testing body.
Importing into France
The showroom quote stops at the factory gate. These are the numbers that follow it.
- Import VAT
- 20% standard rate on import
- Plug / voltage
- Type C / E · 230 V
- Main port
- Le Havre · Marseille
- Ocean transit
- 32–40 days
- Currency
- EUR
- Working language
- French, English
Rates are indicative. Your forwarder will have the current numbers for your port.
Trip cost, before any furniture
| Line | Planning figure |
|---|---|
| Flights | EUR 700–1,150 return on the Paris nonstop |
| Hotel | Lecong or Chancheng, 4-star, EUR 55–105 per night |
| Guide day | USD 150 guide only · USD 250 with car · USD 299 with a 7-seat SUV |
| Lighting trip | a Guzhen day adds a vehicle and roughly two hours of driving each way |
Planning figures, not a quotation.
Questions French buyers ask
How long is the flight from France to Foshan?
About 11 hours nonstop from Paris to Guangzhou or Shenzhen, then about an hour by road to Lecong. Foshan itself has no international airport.
Do French passports need a visa for China?
No, up to 30 days. France is on China's unilateral visa-free list, currently valid to 31 December 2026. Confirm the term before booking, as the policy has been extended in stages.
Should I add a day for lighting in Guzhen?
Usually yes, if lighting is part of the order. Guzhen is about an hour from Foshan and roughly 70% of China's domestic lighting market is there. The pieces are trucked back to the Foshan warehouse and consolidated with the furniture.
Can you collect me at the airport and speak French?
The driver collects from all the regional gateways with a name board; the sourcing team works in English and Chinese. If you need a French-speaking interpreter for the showroom days, say so when you plan the visit so it is booked, not improvised.
How many days do I need?
Four to five. Four covers furniture and case goods against a written programme; five allows a Guzhen lighting day or a cabinetry visit without compressing the rest.
Elsewhere in Europe
A neighbouring market may suit the same container. These three share the region, not the paperwork.
Keep planning
Send your list before you book the flight
Share quantities, rooms, budget and your travel month. We come back with a route, a supplier shortlist and an honest answer on whether the trip is worth making.
Trade rules, duty rates and certification scope change without notice. Confirm the current requirements for your product and entry date with a licensed customs broker before committing to a deposit.