Gosh, what a whirlwind of a week in China!

Three cities, planes, fast trains and a LOT of walking… we averaged around 20,000 steps a day travelling through Guangzhou, Yiwu and Shanghai on our latest Greenwood Designs sourcing trip.

Normally one of my girlfriends is my travel buddy, but this time Gus joined me. Not sure he knew exactly what I had in store for him 😂

We were constantly on the go, visiting some of our existing jewellery and accessory suppliers, meeting new ones, exploring markets and locking in a whole bunch of new goodness for GD. Some will be landing before Christmas, with plenty more in the works for next year.

These sourcing trips are such an important part of what goes on behind the scenes at Greenwood Designs. There’s nothing quite like meeting our suppliers in person, seeing products, colours and materials firsthand and talking through all the ideas we have buzzing around in our heads!

It was busy, it was fun and there was SO much inspiration everywhere. I really do love it… not sure I’ve quite got Gus to the love stage yet, but he’s defs getting there 😂

What I wore in China

Gosh, it was HOT and humid!

Linen and cotton were an absolute must. When I travel I keep my wardrobe pretty simple and comfortable, packing pieces I can mix and match and wear a few different ways.

I reckon I’m getting closer to nailing the capsule travel wardrobe!

Then I let my accessories do the work.

I packed some of my favourite GD pieces to add colour and elevate my simple outfits without having to take half my wardrobe with me.

And P.S… I am well and truly in my necklace era. 💕 A great necklace with a simple linen shirt, tee or dress was pretty much my uniform for the week.

My GD travel must-haves

First up, my GD jewellery travel case. An absolute MUST, particularly when you want to take half your necklace collection with you 😂

It keeps everything together and protected and means I’m not digging around in my suitcase looking for the other earring or trying to untangle necklaces five minutes before we need to leave.

Our toiletry bags were another winner.

I LOVE having the three different sizes because I actually use them for so much more than toiletries. One for the obvious bits, then the others for chargers, cords, adapters and all those random little travel things that otherwise end up floating around the bottom of your bag.

Anything that makes me slightly more organised while travelling gets a big tick!

Then it was my favourite necklaces, earrings and accessories on rotation. Simple clothes, comfy shoes, change up the accessories and off we went.

Visiting our suppliers in Guangzhou, Yiwu & Shanghai

One of my favourite parts of travelling to China is spending time with the people behind so many of our products.

We visited both existing suppliers and new ones across Guangzhou, Yiwu and Shanghai, looked at new materials and designs, talked colours, tweaked samples and worked on ideas for future Greenwood Designs collections.

There is something completely different about being there in person. You can touch and feel everything, compare colours properly, make changes on the spot and often stumble across ideas you weren’t even looking for.

That’s when the inspiration really starts flowing!

So much new GD goodness coming…

I came home VERY excited.

Some of what we worked on will hopefully be landing before Christmas, while plenty more is being developed for next year.

I don’t want to give too much away just yet, but there are some VERY fun things happening behind the scenes!

These trips always leave me with about 400 ideas 😂
Now comes the fun part of turning the best of them into pieces that feel completely GD.

Planning a trip to China?

I hope you loved following along with our China adventures on Insta.

If you’re planning your own trip to China, particularly Guangzhou, Yiwu or Shanghai, or you’re heading over for a sourcing trip and have questions, just pop me a note.

From fast trains and getting around, to what to pack and the little things I’ve learnt along the way, I’m always happy to share my tips and tricks.

Now… back to all those new samples!

Kate x