China Travel Advice

Q: I would like to know: What is the best place for me to buy bamboo rug and carpets at a wholesale price? Can I find them in Yiwu or Anji? I'd also like to know the best path for me to travel to these cities when I'm coming from Hangzhou Airport? What are the modes of transportation I can take and how much does it cost?

There are three places near Hangzhou where plenty of bamboo products can be found. The first is Penggong in Pingyao Township, Yuhang District, the second is Anji County, and the third is Deqing County. In recent years all of these three localities made efforts to promote itself as the primary wholesale markets for bamboo goods, but, Penggong, being the oldest of the three, seems to be the most most active, followed by Anji; Deqing seems to be a slow-comer. At Penggong, along national highway 104, speading over an area of 10 km, a few hundred shops/merchants are engaged in manufacturing and selling bamboo goods. You can also buy bamboo products at wholesale prices at the markets in Yiwu, which, unlike the other three places, is also known for a large number of other goods.

All the places mentioned above are fairly close to Hangzhou. Yiwu, the farthest of the four, is about two hours from Hangzhou. You can get there either by train or by long distance bus. If you take one of the faster trains, you can get from Hangzhou to Yiwu in an hour or so. By bus or slower train, two hours or so. Cost is about ¥60. You may find Yiwu-bound buses at Bus Station South (Qiche Nan Zhan) or Binwang Bus Station (Binwang Qiche Zhan) in Hangzhou.

Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport is about 25 km east of Hangzhou. Yuhang (where Penggong is located) is an outlying district of Hangzhou; it is about 20 km northeast of Hangzhou. Dengqing is about 40 km northwest of Hangzhou. Anji is approximately 30 km northwest of Deqing (70 km or so northwest of Hangzhou). You can look into it, but you may not be able to go directly from Hangzhou Airport to these places, but you can get to these places from Hangzhou relatively easily, by long distance bus. Travel time is more or less an hour. You can probably find Anji-bound and Deqing-bound buses at Hangzhou Bus Station North (Hangzhou Qiche Bei Zhan). There are three or four main long distance bus stations in Hangzhou. You need to figure local transportation (taxi, for example) once you arrive in Yuhang, Anji, etc., to get to the markets.