Guangzhou: trade shows and trading companies
Guangzhou hosts the China International Furniture Fair and a large number of trading companies that represent factories from across the region. It's a useful place to see a wide range of products in one trip, but pricing usually includes a trading company margin on top of the factory's actual cost.
Shenzhen: design-led and export-focused, but not furniture's home base
Shenzhen's manufacturing strength is electronics and design-forward consumer goods. Furniture factories exist there, but in far smaller concentration than in Foshan — buyers searching Shenzhen for furniture are usually redirected to Foshan-based suppliers anyway.
Foshan: where the factories actually are
Shunde and Lecong, both districts of Foshan, hold the largest concentration of furniture factories and wholesale markets in the world. Buying here means visiting the factory floor directly rather than through an intermediary showroom, which usually means better pricing and faster answers on production questions.
Which one should you choose?
If you want to browse broadly and don't mind paying a trading margin, Guangzhou's fair season is a reasonable starting point. If you're placing a real order and want factory-direct pricing and control over quality, Foshan is where the actual sourcing work happens.