I visited Yiwu last year. It was fun looking around and seeing all of these item. But I imagined it to be lively, yet there were very few people shopping around

I visited Yiwu last year. It was fun looking around and seeing all of these item. But I imagined it to be lively, yet there were very few people shopping around in the area. I've asked the sellers why. They said it's because most of their clients buy their items online already but before there were a lot of people shopping at Yiwu. Things to note: For Christmas shoppers, they only sell wholesale (1000 pcs or more depending on the product, 100 pcs if the item is pricey). Most stalls wouldn't sell you anything if you will only buy a few items even if you try to explain you need it as a product sample. Since it is wholesale, make sure you order it in advance as most of their products are located in different province in China. Some of them have to ship it to Yiwu first and they would advice that your orders will arrive 3-5 days. If you are just travelling using the train and need to carry all your items, don't buy too much because you have to walk a very long path with very high stairs carrying all of those stuff (No elevator). And you only have 15 mins time to walk from train station to train platform. Advice: Rent a car from Yiwu to Shanghai for example. It's not that expensive. They also have shipping companies to your country, so you can ship your items to your country. It looks risky because it's not UPS or DHL, but it did arrived at my place so their shipping is ok. Almost all of the sellers don't know how to speak English. It's a must to have a translator. Yiwu Hotel prices are very cheap and provides nice accommodation. I love the food in the area and it's cheap too! :) For me, best and fastest way to travel to Yiwu: Shanghai then take train to Yiwu. :) It was fun! :)