Guangzhou Clothing and Textiles
Guangdong Province is a major production center for ready to wear clothes and shoes. The biggest variety of shops is to be found at the government-owned Friendship Stores. These stores are your best bet for down jackets (typically costing only one-fifth the price you would pay elsewhere) and cashmere sweaters and scarves. The Bingfen Fashion Market on Haizhu Square, Gong Lu Fashion Market on Zhongshan Erlu in Dongshan District, the night market under the Quzhuang Overbridge and the Xihu Lu night market are also good hunting grounds for apparel.
Of special interest is Guangdong black-mud silk, which is hand-made by means of a painstakingly lengthy process and dyed as many as 30 times, using the red extract of the gambier root and the iron rich river mud from the Pearl River. The material stays cool and dry in humid weather. The silk is available from the Xin Da Xin department store, at the corner of Beijing Lu and Zhongshan Wulu.