Ireland to Foshan: 14–16 h with one stop to Guangzhou Baiyun (CAN), 48 minutes by road to Lecong, 30 days visa-free.
- Flight
- 14–16 h with one stop
- 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
Ireland to Foshan: the connecting route, and the five days that follow
There is no nonstop from Dublin, so an Irish buyer connects once through Heathrow, Amsterdam or Doha and lands tired. That is precisely why the trip works: fewer suppliers, seen properly, rather than a week of cold showroom visits.
- Flight
- 14–16 hOne stop
- Entry
- Visa-free30 days, no visa needed
- Allow
- Four to five daysin Foshan
- Airport pickup
- $149Credited back within 6 months
Ireland to Foshan: 14–16 h with one stop to Guangzhou Baiyun (CAN), 48 minutes by road to Lecong, 30 days visa-free.
- Flight
- 14–16 h with one stop
- 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 Irish 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.
Irish 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
Land at 09:35 after 14–16 h in the air, and you are in Lecong about an hour later.
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
Foshan has no international airport. The gateway you pick decides how much of your first day survives the landing.
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
Showroom day in Lecong — two or three options a line, every one photographed and priced
- Day 3
Longjiang factories
Into Longjiang to see what the showroom price is actually made of — frame, foam, fabric, finish
- Day 4
Custom work and samples
Custom work and materials. By evening you should have a written recap, not a camera roll
- Day 5
Sign-off
Confirm the shortlist, agree deposits, and leave with a signable specification
Field noteStaying downtown instead of near the malls adds roughly two hours a day in the car.时久, Xiaohongshu
Field noteAnything quoted without a written specification is a starting position, not a price. The same sofa is made at three different foam densities.天天说岩板云艾葭瓷砖, 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.
Lecong 乐从
Where the trip starts: room-set showrooms, a hundred options before lunch, prices you can argue with.
Longjiang 龙江
Factory town for upholstery. The material markets behind it are where a showroom price stops being a mystery.
Chancheng 禅城
Downtown Foshan: a workable base, the flagship showrooms, kitchen and bath.
Dongguan 东莞
OEM and ODM factories built for export, roughly 90 minutes down the road.
Where to stay
The hotel is a routing decision before it is a comfort decision.
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.
Swissôtel Foshan 佛山恒安瑞士大酒店
late arrivals · central base
ZMAX Foshan Lecong ZMAX满兮酒店(佛山乐从家具城店)
buyers' crowd · 2 km from the malls
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 Irish buyers get caught on
- 01Ireland is in the EU, so the rules are CE marking, 23% VAT on import, and EU timber due diligence under EUTR — not the UK's post-Brexit regime, despite the shared travel area.
- 02220–240 V and standard EU plugs. A factory that builds for the UK market is not automatically building for an Irish one, and vice versa.
- 03Furniture shipped to Ireland usually enters through Dublin or Rotterdam. Rotterdam routing adds a road leg, so the delivery terms need to say who pays for it.
- 04Irish buyers often act for hotels and pubs; contract-grade fire performance is the specification that gets checked, not the showroom finish.
- 05Ask for the packing list by room. With a long supply chain and several suppliers, room labelling saves more time than any single discount.
Practical specification checks, not certification advice. Confirm current requirements with your importer or testing body.
Importing into Ireland
What the price tag does not tell you: the tax, the plug, the port and the wait.
- Import VAT
- 23% standard rate on import
- Plug / voltage
- Type G · 230 V
- Main port
- Dublin
- Ocean transit
- 32–40 days
- Currency
- EUR
- Working language
- English
Check the current rate with your broker before you price the order — these figures drift.
Trip cost, before any furniture
| Line | Planning figure |
|---|---|
| Flights | EUR 600–1,000 return with one stop; the nonstop from Heathrow is often the cheapest single leg |
| Hotel | Lecong or Chancheng, 4-star, EUR 55–110 per night |
| Guide day | USD 150 guide only · USD 250 with car · USD 299 with a 7-seat SUV |
| Duty and VAT | EU duty by commodity code plus 23% VAT, payable on import |
Planning figures, not a quotation.
Questions Irish buyers ask
How do I get from Ireland to Foshan?
There is no nonstop. The usual route is Dublin to Heathrow, Amsterdam or Doha, then on to Guangzhou — 14–16 hours door to door — followed by a hour-long drive to Lecong.
Do Irish passports need a visa for China?
No, for stays up to 30 days. Ireland is on China's unilateral visa-free list, currently valid to 31 December 2026. Confirm before booking, since the list has been extended in stages.
Is the Irish import regime the same as the UK's?
No. Ireland applies EU rules: CE marking, EU duty and 23% VAT. The UK's UKCA marking and post-Brexit customs entry do not apply to an Irish import, and a supplier quoting a UK landed cost is quoting the wrong market.
Can you pick me up at Dublin-style overnight arrivals?
Yes. All of the regional gateways are covered — Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Macau, Zhuhai, Dongguan and Zhongshan — plus Foshan West if you arrive by rail. The driver waits in arrivals with a name board.
How many days should I allow?
Four to five. The flight cost argues for making the trip count: four days covers two categories properly, five covers a whole home or a hotel brief.
Elsewhere in Europe
If the delivery address is not the one you searched for, start with a market next door.
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.