Planning

When to order from China

Three suppliers in this trade publish three different deadlines: contact us by August, capacity fills around the middle of October, order in June. All three describe the same chain of events from a different end. This page lays out the chain.

The chain

Drawing and booking
Production
Export clearance
Ocean transit
Entry and delivery
On site

Order-by calendar

Work back from your opening night

Enter the date the goods have to be on site. The calendar works back through every stage at the slowest duration we plan for and shows when the order has to be placed.

Order by, to be safe

May 3, 2027

Every stage at its slowest planned duration: 196 days.

Latest possible, if everything runs fast

Jul 25, 2027

106 days, plus 7 days of planning time for China's National Day holiday if every stage runs at its fastest. Do not plan on it.

Drawing approval, deposit and factory booking
Planning allowance. Custom work needs an approved drawing before a slot is booked.
7 to 14 daysMay 3, 2027 to May 17, 2027modelled
Production
Planning allowance for custom steel and lighting work. Consumables run shorter, and each product page carries its own window.
56 to 84 daysMay 17, 2027 to Aug 9, 2027modelled
Inland to port, export clearance, vessel cut-off
Planning allowance from the factory to the sailing port.
5 to 10 daysAug 9, 2027 to Aug 19, 2027modelled
Ocean transit, Yantian to Chicago, 40ft
Freightos via our freight-rate pipeline, captured 2026-09-03. Range covers every routing offered on the lane that day.
23 to 66 daysAug 19, 2027 to Oct 24, 2027provider
Customs entry, drayage and delivery
Planning allowance. Our broker files the entry. A customs exam adds time that nobody controls.
5 to 12 daysOct 24, 2027 to Nov 5, 2027modelled
On-site buffer before opening
So a late container does not become a late opening.
10 daysNov 5, 2027 to Nov 15, 2027modelled

Ocean transit from our own freight-rate pipeline (Freightos), snapshot 2026-09-03. Production window and allowances are planning estimates; the quote is the commitment. The stages in China leave room for Chinese New Year and China's National Day holiday in October, but each factory sets its own holiday dates. Municipal buyers: add your own procurement lead time in front of the order date.

Freight lanes

Other lanes we track

The calendar above uses an inland Midwest lane because it is the slowest one we track. Port-to-port lanes to the West Coast and to Vancouver run shorter. Your quote uses the lane for your destination.

Yantian to Minneapolis, 40ft
17 to 66 days in transit, captured 2026-09-02
Yantian to Saint Paul, 40ft
17 to 66 days in transit, captured 2026-09-02
Shanghai to Minneapolis, 40ft
14 to 66 days in transit, captured 2026-09-03
Ningbo to Minneapolis, 40ft
17 to 68 days in transit, captured 2026-09-03
Yantian to Chicago, 40ft
23 to 66 days in transit, captured 2026-09-03
Yantian to Long Beach, 40ft (port to port)
11 to 40 days in transit, captured 2026-09-03
Yantian to Seattle, 40ft (port to port)
13 to 37 days in transit, captured 2026-09-03
Yantian to Vancouver BC, 40ft (port to port)
14 to 55 days in transit, captured 2026-09-02

provider Transit times from our freight-rate data (Freightos).

Procurement

Municipal buyers

If you buy through a procurement process, put its length in front of the order date. Where the goods are part of a turnkey decor contract, the contractor usually owns the decor and places this order. The calendar is the same and the buyer is different.

Buying municipal Christmas decorations covers the RFP, the specification, the price schedule and clause wording a city can adapt.

Stocking a Christmas light installation business covers the contractor's side: what to buy, and when to order it.

Limits

What the dates do not cover

The calendar plans for the slow end of each stage it knows about. Where a stage in China runs across Chinese New Year or the National Day holiday in October, it adds planning time for the factory to stop, but each factory sets its own dates: when factories in China close for the New Year explains the rule and how to plan an order around it. The calendar cannot see a customs exam, a port strike or a factory that has already filled its season. The quote for your order is the only date we commit to, and shipping and duties explains what happens between the port and your door.

Request a quote

Tell us what you need. We'll take it from there.

Send the product, the quantity, the destination and the date. We reply within 1 business day and tell you when your landed quote will follow.

Reply within 1 business day
Landed cost, itemised

Request a quote

We take on the orders we can do well, and we will say so if yours isn't one of them.

A loaded container ship at sea at dusk, seen from above