Getting to the Complex: transport, timing and where to stay

Practical logistics for a three-phase exhibition in the same place: how the site is served, why you should sleep on the line rather than beside the halls, and what the phase calendar does to hotel prices.

How the site is served

The complex sits in Pazhou, on the metro, and the metro is the one arrival method that does not care about the traffic around the site. Check the metro operator's current map for the station and exits serving the complex on the day you go, and the Fair's official transport notice for shuttle services during the phases.

Airport transfers and hotel shuttle buses exist during the Fair. They are convenient and they are also the first thing to be affected by a full hotel, so have the metro as your fallback.

Stay on the line, not next to the halls

Accommodation within walking distance of the complex carries a real premium during the phases. Staying a few stations away usually buys a better room for less, and costs you twenty minutes each way.

Book before the phase calendar is published if you can, and book the whole stay at once. Splitting a week across two hotels around a phase change is more trouble than it saves.

The daily rhythm

Arrive before the doors open and pick your halls the night before. The first hour is the one where you get a sales engineer rather than a queue.

Plan two halls properly rather than five badly, and leave the last hour of the day for the walk back through anything you flagged in the morning.

Bring cash and a payment method that works where you are staying, and keep the business cards separate from the catalogues so you can still find a booth number on the last day.

Three phases, one site

The Fair runs in phases that carry different product groups. If your products span two phases, decide before you book whether you are staying through or flying twice - the answer usually decides your hotel budget.

Phase dates and the product groups in each phase are published by the organiser; check the current calendar on the official site before booking anything non-refundable.

What this page is not

This is our own travel practice, not organiser guidance, and schedules, exits and shuttle routes change. Verify against the official sources below before you travel.

Our own travel practice. Check the official sources for current dates, exits and shuttle arrangements.