8 Cooking Classes with a Market Tour in China to Build a Day Around

1.Half-Day Chengdu Cooking Class with a Local Market Visit

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 465 reviews · from $90Our pick

Meet an English-speaking guide, explore Liangjiaxiang market, sample local ingredients, and learn Sichuan cooking in Chilli Cool’s clean kitchen. Guides Lance and Jerry help explain the spices and translate for the chef. You prepare several dishes, eat what you make, and receive recipes. Vegetarian options are available.

“We spent a great day with the Chili Cool team 🌶️🌶️🌶️! Jerry picked us up from the hotel and we had an amazing market tour where he patiently answered all of our questions. Communication in English was very easy and the food was very tasty! They even offered a vegetarian version for us. We can recommend the class 💯. Thank you so much for the great time!”

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2.Cooking Class with Fresh Market Half Day Experience

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 42 reviews · 4.5 hours · from $82

Meet your English-speaking guide at Liang Jia Xiang Station for a market walk, Sichuan tea, and a hands-on cooking class. Guides such as Lance and Jerry explain local spices, while the chef helps you prepare several dishes. Ingredients, drinks, recipes, and the final meal are included.

“We really enjoyed this class with Lance! He answered all our questions and translated effortlessly with the cook. Family friendly, couple friendly and even solo friendly. We enjoyed all the dishes we made and learning more about Sichuan cuisine as well as meeting some fellow travelers.”

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3.Half-Day steamed Buns Cooking Class with a Local Market Visit

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 26 reviews · from $80

Spend four to five hours with an English-speaking guide visiting a Chengdu spice market and making Baozi in a traditional Sichuan courtyard kitchen. Learn about local ingredients, practice simple Chinese, enjoy Sichuan tea, and eat your handmade buns with beer or soft drinks. Guides including Lance and Jerry add a friendly personal touch.

“A great experience, the local market was fun, interesting and we got to try and use a little Chinese language. Lance our guide was great from start to finish and took lots of fabulous pictures which meant we could get with our cookery class. Read more”

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4.Half-Day Professional Mapo Tofu Cooking with a Local Market Visit

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 19 reviews · from $69

Spend about four hours exploring a Chengdu spice market, then cook Sichuan mapo tofu at Chilli Cool’s professional kitchen. A guide such as Jerry leads the market visit and helps with the class, which is limited to 10 people. Tea, ingredients, drinks, a meal, recipes, and a souvenir are included.

“It was a very cool experience! Jerry, the tour guide, was very helpful throughout the experience, even before the activity had started. Before the experience had even begun, he reached out to clarify the different workshops that Chilli Uncool hRead more”

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5.Half-day Dandan Noodles Cooking Class with a Local Market Visit

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 8 reviews · from $100

Spend about four hours exploring a Chengdu spice market, completing a hands-on ingredient challenge, and cooking dan dan noodles in a professional kitchen. An English-speaking guide such as Lance, Ocean, or Amy helps with the market visit, while a local chef leads the class. Hotel pickup is available within Chengdu’s second ring road.

“I offered this cooking class to my girlfriend as a birthday present, and it was beyond what I hoped for! Everything was perfect. The market visit was super interesting, and Lance took the time to explain everything, answer all our (numerous) Read more”

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6.Vegan Home Cooking & Local Market Tour with Sanxia

★★★★★★★★★★4.8 · 4 reviews · 4 hours · from $47Best value

Join Sanxia, also known as Rabbit, for a private 4 to 6 hour vegan food experience in Beijing’s Tongzhou District. Shop for seasonal produce at a local market, then make dumplings, noodles, steamed buns, and other Chinese dishes in her home. Tea, cultural conversation, photos, videos, and a Fragrant Hills bookmark are included.

“Super friendly and was able to learn a lot about cooking as well as everyday life in Beijing.”

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7.Dumpling Cooking Class and Local Market Tour

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 3 reviews · from $80

Spend four hours exploring a local market near Beijing’s Hutong area, selecting fresh ingredients before making dumplings from scratch in a traditional courtyard. An English-speaking guide leads each step, with several fillings to choose from, including vegan options. The group is capped at eight, and the tour begins and ends at Zhaojunsheng Vegetable Market.

“Super fun experience! 2 young girls from Beijing with excellent English. We went to a local market together to get groceries and made the Dumplings from scratch. Beautiful building that we prepped and cooked in.”

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8.Half-Day Private Hot-Pot Cooking Class with a Local Market Visit

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 3 reviews · from $90

Join Lance and a professional chef in Chengdu for a private half-day hotpot class. Visit a spice market, sample local snacks, enjoy Sichuan tea, prepare spicy and non-spicy broths, and eat the meal you make. Pickup is offered, and the class lasts about four and a half hours.

“We had an amazing experience at Chilli Cool China. We started this incredible venture with Lance our tour guide from Chilli Cool China who from the moment we got picked up was engaging and delightful! We started our tour at the local sRead more”

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