Canton Fair Charter Case: 47-Pax Buying Group, Pazhou to Beilu Road Hotel, Three Days Running

In October 2026, during Phase 1 of the Canton Fair, a 47-person buying group stayed on Beilu Road in Guangzhou and ran the same trip for three days: hotel to the Pazhou fairground in the morning, back to the hotel in the evening. One evening was extended to Tianzi Pier for a Pearl River cruise; on the third day the group left the halls in the afternoon, collected every case from the hotel and drove on to Shenzhen. The whole job ran on one 53-seat coach - no second vehicle.

This is not a one-off transfer. It is three days of two legs a day, with a night leg and a cross-city run in the middle. Below are the actual arrangements and the three real problems, so you can map your own itinerary onto them.

The job sheet: what was booked and how it was run

The three days, leg by leg

The three real problems

1. Is one 53-seat coach enough for 47 people? It depends on when the luggage comes on board.
The group stayed in the same hotel for three nights and never took cases to the fair, so the luggage loaded exactly once, on the last day. One 53-seat coach plus its hold was enough; there was no reason to split the group. The case where you do need two vehicles is different: a new hotel every night with luggage travelling daily, or two destinations at the same time.

2. The 19:25 run to Tianzi Pier cannot be treated as "just drop them back at the hotel".
A river cruise sails at a fixed time, and Pazhou to Tianzi Pier crosses the city. That leg is built backwards from the sailing time: what time the group assembles in the hall, which route the driver takes, where he waits at the pier, and the return to the hotel afterwards. The half hour after the halls empty is the worst traffic of the day, so the departure is pulled forward rather than left to chance.

3. "Back to the hotel for luggage, then on to Shenzhen" means a stop in the middle of a day.
Pazhou to the Beilu Road hotel to Shenzhen is two jobs in one afternoon: a loading stop plus a cross-city run. So the fair time on the last day is cut to a half day and the coach leaves Pazhou at 15:00. Leave at closing time instead and the luggage stop plus the drive out of Guangzhou lands in the evening peak.

How to book the same trip, and how it is priced

Size the vehicle first. Canton Fair transport falls into three bands: 1-6 passengers in a 7-seat business van, 7-27 in a minibus, 28-55 in a coach. At 47 the group sits in the coach band, and one 53-seat coach is enough. Above 50 passengers, or with unusually heavy luggage, move up a size or split into two vehicles.

Then agree the charging basis. A Dongguan-Pazhou return day is charged as a full day including driver, fuel, tolls and waiting at the fairground. Multi-day bookings are packaged per day; night legs and cross-city runs are quoted separately.

These are published reference ranges; the final figure depends on dates, vehicle, route and waiting time. Phase dates and the changeover windows are in our Canton Fair 2026 phases 1-3 guide, and if you want to add factory visits in Dongguan during the fair, see Pazhou to Dongguan factory transport.

How far ahead to book. Coaches are tight during the fair. Lock the vehicle and driver 3-7 days ahead; the days before Phase 1 opens and the changeovers (19-22 October) are the tightest.

One way, round trip, a full day or several days - all of them are quoted. The same route is priced to how the client actually travels: a single drop as a one-way, a drop and a later pick-up as a round trip (same vehicle and driver, usually less than two separate one-ways), several stops with long waits as a day charter, a multi-night stay by the day. We do not insist on one shape.

Canton Fair charter: common questions

Do we need one coach or two for a group of 45?
One 53-seat coach covers 40-47 people. You only split into two vehicles when luggage travels with the group every day, or when the group has to be in two places at the same time.

Where does the driver wait when the fair closes?
A coach cannot queue at the hall entrance. We set a fixed pick-up bay in the outer car park, the group walks over at an agreed time, and the driver is already in position with the meeting point confirmed before the halls empty. The exact bay follows the traffic control in force that day and is confirmed to you in advance.

We are at the fair all day and want a Pearl River night cruise - how is that priced?
The evening leg is quoted as an extra leg, not as a return-to-hotel run. Tell us three things when booking: the time you leave the fair, the cruise departure time and the hotel you return to. We then work the departure time backwards from the sailing.

On the last day, can the coach go back to the hotel for luggage and then drive to Shenzhen?
Yes, but the day needs room for the luggage stop and the drive out of the city. In this case we left Pazhou at 15:00; leaving at closing time would put the luggage stop and the highway run straight into the evening peak.

What if a large group has a lot of luggage?
We count people first, then luggage. If the seats are enough but the hold is not, we move up a vehicle size or split the group - which is why we always ask two questions before quoting: how many people, how many cases.

Can you provide a contract and a Chinese VAT invoice?
Yes. A charter contract and an invoice are available for corporate groups and overseas buying groups alike.

Planning a Canton Fair charter?

Pazhou, Baiyun Airport and Guangzhou South Station to any Dongguan hotel: 7-55 seats, all owned vehicles. See exhibition and Canton Fair charter for vehicle options and how the fair period is handled. Send us dates, group size, number of cases and pick-up points and we will come back with a vehicle and a fixed price.
24-hour line: +86 137-1278-3205 (WeChat and WhatsApp on the same number).