You fly in. We've already done the homework.
Most "factory tours" in China are sourcing trips dressed up as travel. You land, get driven to factories you didn't choose, and someone with a clipboard collects a commission on whatever you buy.
That's not what we do.
A China Agent Guided Visit is built around the suppliers you already care about — ones you're considering, ones we've verified, or ones you've worked with for years and finally want to meet in person.
We don't pick the factories. You do. Or we shortlist against your brief and you approve.
Then we build the week.
#9 — If a supplier is "very responsive," you're probably still in the sales phase. Wait for production.
Email is the sales phase. Production is a different business. The way to bridge that gap isn't a longer email thread — it's a chair, a translator, and your face in the factory at 10 AM on a Tuesday.
What we actually do for you
Before you land
We run due diligence on every supplier on your list. Confirm decision-makers will be in the room — not just sales staff. Build the entire week's schedule around your priorities, not ours.
On the ground
Driver and translator booked, vetted, and on call. Daily oversight. Daily summary. We don't disappear after you land. The schedule is yours, but the logistics are us.
In the room
Optional bolt-ons when the meeting needs more weight: QC engineer for technical reviews, Chinese lawyer for on-the-spot NNN signing, senior negotiator for hard conversations.
After you leave
Factory scorecards, photos, decisions made, next steps, signed agreements. The trip ends. The file lives.
Three trip lengths. One service standard.
Quality over volume. We never schedule more than 6 factories on a single trip — so every visit gets the time it needs.
3-Day Visit
Single hub. 1–2 factories. Best for: focused buyers who already know who they're meeting.
- Pre-trip due diligence on listed suppliers.
- Itinerary build + factory confirmations.
- Driver & translator vetted and booked.
- Daily summary.
- Post-trip Proof File.
$1,295
5-Day Visit
Single hub or two close hubs. 3–5 factories. The standard buyer trip.
- Everything in 3-Day.
- Multi-factory schedule with travel logistics.
- Pre-trip strategy call.
- Mid-trip schedule adjustment if priorities shift
$1,950
7-Day Visit
3–4 hubs across multiple regions. Up to 6 factories total. For buyers covering multiple production zones.
- Everything in 5-Day.
- Multi-region routing.
- Cross-hub coordination.
- Optional market visits and Canton Fair days.
- Senior China Agent oversight throughout.
$2,650
Pass-through costs (transparent, no markup):
The trip fee covers China Agent's planning, vetting, and coordination work. Driver and translator are pass-through — we show you the real day rates and you see every receipt.
| Driver | $100–$200/day |
|---|---|
| English-speaking translator | $150/day |
We confirm actual rates against your itinerary before you commit. No surprises.
Bolt-ons (your expert team, billed by the day):
| QC technical specialist | $450/day |
|---|---|
| Chinese lawyer (NNN, contract review on the spot) | $750/day |
| Senior negotiator / management presence | $1,250/day |
This is the layer that separates a logistics trip from a China Agent trip. The factory sees a foreigner walk in with a local Support — the conversation changes instantly.
What this looks like in practice
"By Friday, the factory wasn't negotiating against her budget. They were negotiating against the next factory she was walking into."
A US/Canada fashion brand flew in for a sourcing trip. Eight days, multiple hubs in the Pearl River Delta, plus Canton Fair at the end.
We built the schedule before she landed. Pre-trip due diligence on every supplier. Factory owners and decision-makers confirmed in every meeting — not just sales staff and translators.
Day one wasn't a factory. It was the fabric and hardware markets — sourcing from the source, before any factory got a chance to mark up materials. That single decision rebuilt her cost structure at the input level.
Then the factories. Four days. Multiple meetings. Every supplier knew the buyer had just walked out of another factory and would be walking into one tomorrow. The "kaka" stopped fast.
Every supplier signed strict OEM and NNN agreements before quoting was finalized.
By the end of the trip, prices were down roughly 30% across the board — not from negotiation tricks, but from market-level cost insight + on-the-ground competitive pressure.
The buyer left with: real cost transparency, signed legal protection, factory relationships built face-to-face, and the ability to clearly explain her requirements in person — to people who could actually act on them.
Instead of buying remotely and hoping, she made decisions based on what she saw with her own eyes.
Guided Visit case · Pearl River Delta, 2026
What this isn't
Not a sourcing trip
We don't pick suppliers for you. You bring the list, or we shortlist against your brief. The trip is for the suppliers you care about.
Not a commission play
We don't take a cent from any factory. Driver and translator costs are pass-through — you see the actual day rates. China Agent's fee is what we charge for planning, vetting, and coordination. That's it.
Not a packaged tour
Every itinerary is built for one buyer's specific brief. We don't run group trips, we don't have "tour partners," and we don't recycle schedules. Your week is yours.
Not a travel agency
We don't book your flights or your hotel. We don't negotiate visa applications. You handle travel; we handle everything that happens once you land.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions before buyers commit. If yours isn't here, ask.
7 business days minimum to vet driver, translator, and confirm factories. Less than 7 days = rush fee (+30%) or decline.
Yes, on 5-day and 7-day trips. Schedule changes within the booked region are included. New regions or extra translator/driver days are added at standard pass-through rates.
No. We send you our recommended hotels (close to factories, near transport, budget options too) but you book travel directly. We're not a travel agency.
English ↔ Mandarin standard. For Cantonese-only suppliers (rare in modern manufacturing) we book a separate Cantonese-speaker as a bolt-on.
Yes, but we still recommend ours. Our translators are vetted for factory floor technical vocabulary — not generic business English. The difference shows up fast.
We have local backup suppliers shortlisted in advance. If a primary cancels, we either reroute to a backup or use the time for a market visit, depending on your brief.
A China Agent representative joins for high-stakes meetings (contract signings, deep technical reviews, hard negotiations). For standard factory walkthroughs, the translator + driver handle logistics and you lead the meeting. Want full presence at every stop? Add a senior negotiator bolt-on.