Wedding Wednesday: Guangzhou's Wedding Street

Here is a post I know a lot of you have been waiting for: the wedding street in Guangzhou. Ever since I first talked about the hidden gem, I've received many comments, emails and facebook messages asking for more information. This is indeed precious info, as the majority of the most renowned wedding gown brands produce their dresses in China, so here you're bound to find real beauties with prices slashed by more than a half from what they would cost in Europe.

Even though its name is Wedding Street, the truth is this is far more than a street. It's a whole area, with several streets and shopping malls, all of them exclusively selling wedding gowns. You'll find some small shops selling bridal accessories, too, like wedding shoes, accessories, fabric flowers or clothes for the flower girls/boys. The name of the biggest street, the one that is usually referred to as wedding street, is Jiangnan Avenue North (江南大道北), so now you know what to look for in the map! One thing I can tell you, if you come here, there is NO WAY you're leaving without finding a dress you like. There are just so many shops, it's basically impossible not to find a match. There are some cheap dresses that would probably not be up to European / US standards but, believe me, there's also the high quality, stylish, gorgeous ones!
 

To get to Guangzhou from Hong Kong by public transport, you have at least 3 options:
1. Take the MTR intercity through train at Hung Hom, which takes you directly to Guangzhou East Railway Station in a bit less than 2 hours.
2. Take a bus to Guangzhou (around 3 hours). There are several stops in Hong Kong, I have never taken the bus because I think the train is more convenient but the good thing about the bus is once in Guangzhou, there's a stop right next to the wedding street: 海珠广场. From here you just need to cross the bridge and you're already in the wedding street!
3. Take the East Rail Train to Luo Hu (羅湖)  (Shenzhen), and change to the Shenzhen-Guangzhou train there (also departing from Luo Hu station, and arriving at Guangzhou East) (around 80 min.).

Once in Guangzhou take the subway to station 市二宮站 (The 2nd Workers' Cultural Palace) on the blue line, or ask the taxi driver to take you there by mentioning you're going to the wedding street, he'll know :) Once in 市二宮站, take exit D and tadaaaaaaa hundreds of wedding dress shops will appear in front of you. It's not a dream, it's real, the highest density of wedding dress retail shops in the world! Wedding dresses prices range from CNY500 to CNY4000, (50-500€), (US$80-650), or slightly higher for the best boutiques. You can bargain in most of the shops, so don't buy without trying to get a discount first!

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