Glazed fruits are neatly bottled, colorfully packaged and splendidly showcased to attract passers-by. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.COM/ Yang Yong]

By YANG YONG, CRI Reporter

Wholesale markets of national importance are by no means rare in Guangzhou. The city is one of the largest and earliest trading centers in China, if not the world. Visitors are generally fascinated by the various kinds of wholesale markets on offer here.

Home wares, toys, umbrellas and sweets ... lots of sweets! They are neatly bottled, colorfully packaged and splendidly showcased to attract passers-by.

But this is just a drop in the ocean--foodstuffs and teas, shoes and leather goods, garments and bedding, stationery and decorations, to cosmetics and audio visual products, etc. From ordinary rubber bands to brand name cosmetics, from yummy raisins to fresh seafood, from all-purpose plastics to exquisite porcelain, you will never fail to find anything you have in mind.

What's more, it's very easy to make a satisfying purchase at a satisfactory price; you may even get it at a super low price if you bargain especially hard or buy a large amount.

No wonder Guangzhou is called a shoppers' paradise. Shoppers from all over the country and all over the world regularly converge on the city. Most of them are merchants or tourists. There is always win-win atmosphere in these busy and prosperous wholesale markets.

Seeing is believing. And this is Yide Road, a 100-year-old street renowned for its selling of comprehensive goods. Five indoor wholesale markets and 200 shops line this 1,000 meter long strip.

What you hear now are carts, they can be found everywhere in the market. Helping crazed shoppers carrying away their bounty.

Thirty-five-year-old Zhouhua is a typical Sichuan woman. Years of hard work in Guangzhou have provided her with a solid knowledge of the porcelain business. These days, she is a porcelain designer and owns a porcelain store inside Wanling Wholesale Market on Yide Road. Her business is quite good and constant.

Zhangli is one of her customers. She is from Haikou, a city of south China's Hainan Province. She sells decoration goods in her city; she comes to Guangzhou frequently to purchase wholesale goods.

"There are a lot of good choices in these Guangzhou markets. It is near to my place and there is a low price for everything. It's very convenient and very cheap. But sound quality."

It is almost 2 pm, but Zhouhua still has no time to think about lunch.

"It is painstaking to run a shop here. But there are a lot of opportunities too, including abundant business information, customer resources and more. We mainly sell wholesale to abroad, in South-East Asia and the Middle East for instance."

Talking about other similar porcelain shops nearby, Zhouhua is not worried about such furious competition.

"Competition is natural here. But one wins with the best quality and reasonable price. Quality is most important, otherwise you will surely fail."

Next is Patrick, a businessman from London. He is here purchasing ladies shoes, unexpectedly interrupted by my interview.

(Interview¡­) "Guangzhou is probably the best place to purchase shoes!"

Going out of the shop and walking along Yide Road, I am again immersed among numerous carts, touts, shoppers and millions of goods.

The most surprising thing I spy is a giant and grand Catholic church standing just back off the busy commercial road. It is Sunday, and hymns can still be faintly heard resonating from inside. No matter the noise of the nearby markets, the tranquility of the church seems never to be disturbed.