Türkiye to Foshan: 10–11 h nonstop to Guangzhou Baiyun (CAN), 48 minutes by road to Lecong, a visa is required in advance.
- Flight
- 10–11 h nonstop
- Entry
- a visa is required in advance
- Transfer
- 48 min from CAN
- Visit
- Four days
- Guide day
- USD 150 / day
- Pickup
- USD 149
Sourcing trip · Europe
Türkiye to Foshan: nonstop from Istanbul, and a negotiation between traders
Istanbul to Guangzhou is ten hours nonstop, and Turkish buyers arrive knowing exactly what a factory costs — which changes the conversation from persuasion to specification. The constraint here is duty and lira exposure, not distance.
- Flight
- 10–11 hNonstop
- Entry
- Visa requiredApply before booking flights
- Allow
- Four daysin Foshan
- Airport pickup
- $149Credited back within 6 months
Türkiye to Foshan: 10–11 h nonstop to Guangzhou Baiyun (CAN), 48 minutes by road to Lecong, a visa is required in advance.
- Flight
- 10–11 h nonstop
- Entry
- a visa is required in advance
- Transfer
- 48 min
- Visit
- Four 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 Turkish travellers
Visa required before travel. Apply for an M (business) or L (tourist) visa at a Chinese visa application centre before booking. Allow about four working days plus appointment time.
Turkish passports need a visa before travel.
- Without a visa
- None — apply in advance
- On what basis
- Visa required before travel
- 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 · Approved invitation · Appointment confirmation
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 21:05 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
Every route ends the same way: an hour on the ground between the arrivals hall and Lecong.
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
Four days is the working minimum for anything beyond a single category. 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
Yesterday was calibration. Today is the shortlist: Lecong, against your own list, priced line by line
- Day 3
Factories behind the malls
Today belongs to the workshops, in Longjiang or Nanzhuang
- Day 4
Samples and sign-off
Samples, custom pieces, then sign off and leave with a specification
Field noteShunde is where the food is. Buyers who come for furniture often spend a dinner there and call it the best part of the trip.吹泡泡, Xiaohongshu
Field noteTerms are usually a 50% deposit and the balance before dispatch. Put materials, dimensions, lead time and after-sales in the contract.Cakee7, Xiaohongshu
Where the days are actually spent
Contract pieces come from factories that already build to a fire and wear standard.
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
Upholstery and sofa factories, plus the material markets behind them. Where a showroom price gets explained.
Chancheng 禅城
The city centre. A practical base, flagship showrooms, kitchen and bathroom.
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.
Swissôtel Foshan 佛山恒安瑞士大酒店
late arrivals · central base
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
After 18:30 the malls go quiet. These three are where the evening actually happens.
Ratings and average spend from Amap, retrieved 2026-10-31. Hours and closures change — confirm before booking a table for guests.
What Turkish buyers get caught on
- 01Türkiye is in a customs union with the EU but not the single market for these goods; furniture duty is charged on top of 20% KDV, so the landed cost needs calculating before the price comparison, not after.
- 02CE marking applies where a directive covers the product. TSE marks are asked for by some distributors and are not the same thing.
- 03220–240 V, Type C and F. A fixture specified for the Gulf or the US will not pass.
- 04Lira volatility means the supplier quote and your selling price can drift apart inside one production run. Pricing in USD or EUR and stating the FX basis in the contract is normal practice here.
- 05Turkish buyers tend to re-export into the region. If that is the plan, the specification has to survive two sets of import rules, so say so at the quotation stage.
Practical specification checks, not certification advice. Confirm current requirements with your importer or testing body.
Importing into Türkiye
What the price tag does not tell you: the tax, the plug, the port and the wait.
- Import VAT
- 20% standard rate on import
- Plug / voltage
- Type C / F · 230 V
- Main port
- Istanbul · Mersin
- Ocean transit
- 24–32 days
- Currency
- TRY
- Working language
- Turkish, English
Rates are indicative. Your forwarder will have the current numbers for your port.
Trip cost, before any furniture
| Line | Planning figure |
|---|---|
| Flights | USD 600–1,000 return on the Istanbul nonstop |
| Hotel | Lecong or Chancheng, 4-star, USD 60–110 per night |
| Airport pickup | USD 149 from Guangzhou or Shenzhen, credited against your sourcing fee if you order within six months |
| Duty and KDV | Duty by commodity code plus 20% KDV, payable on import |
Planning figures, not a quotation.
Questions Turkish buyers ask
How long is the flight from Türkiye to Foshan?
About ten hours nonstop from Istanbul to Guangzhou, then about an hour by road to Lecong. Foshan itself has no international airport.
Do Turkish passports need a visa for China?
Yes. Apply for an M or L visa before booking; the appointment is usually the slowest part, so start it before fixing travel dates.
Is Türkiye's customs union with the EU relevant to furniture?
Only partly. The union covers industrial goods, but the entry price still includes duty and 20% KDV, so a supplier quoting a European landed cost is quoting a different market.
How do Turkish buyers usually handle the currency?
Price in USD or EUR and state the exchange basis in the contract. With lira volatility, a quote left open through a 35-day production run can move more than the negotiation did.
How many days do I need?
Four. Istanbul buyers tend to move quickly: one day in Lecong, one at the factories, one on samples and terms, one to sign and fly out.
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.