The 10 Best Market Tour Cooking Classes in China

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

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

Meet your English-speaking guide at Chilli Cool’s Kitchen, visit Liangjiaxiang market, taste local produce and spices, then cook several Sichuan dishes with a chef. Lance, Jerry, and the kitchen team help with translation, technique, vegetarian requests, recipes, and the final meal.

“It took a while to get this book, but I truly loved everything about this tour. Jerry was great and personable. I loved going around a real Chinese market learning how the local people pick and choose their food. I even got to try my hand at making dumplings (I was very good 2 out of 10 times). From there we went to the kitchen where I met Auntie Lee (Chef Lee). She was wonderful and with Jerry translating I was able to make a good mapu tofu and an excellent twice cooked pork and pretty darn nice cucumber salad. I couldn't recommend this tour enough and I hope more…”

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2.Chengdu: Cooking Class with Fresh Market Half Day Experience

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

Meet Lance, Jerry, or another English-speaking guide at Liang Jia Xiang Station for a market walk and hands-on Sichuan cooking class. Learn about local spices, cook several dishes with a chef, then eat your meal with tea, beer, or soft drinks.

“10/10 experience, one of my favourite activities in China so far! If you are looking for an authentic small group cooking experience, don’t hesitate to book! Our guide Lance was fantastic, the market visit was almost as enjoyable as the cooking class itself. Lance even purchased different fruits and foods for us to try from the market that were new to us. The dishes we cooked were super tasty and there was something for everyone!🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟”

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

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 26 reviews · from $80

Join an English-speaking guide such as Lance or Jerry for a four-hour Chengdu food experience. Visit a local spice market, learn about Sichuan ingredients, make Baozi in a traditional courtyard kitchen, then eat your buns with tea, beer, or soft drinks.

“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.Hong Kong Market Walking Tour & Chinese Cooking Class

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 24 reviews · from $131

Meet Bill Chan in Ngau Tau Kok for a guided walk through a local wet market, where you’ll see seafood, meats, vegetables, fruit, barbecue, and noodle shops. Then work in pairs at a professional cooking studio to prepare a three-course Chinese meal, with tea, coffee, recipes, and time to eat your work.

“Fantastic experience, highly recommended! Our guide, Bill, is knowledgeable about Hong Kong and regional culture, history and food. We learned so much through out the guided walking tour and the in-studio cooking session. Bill’s pace Read more”

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

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 19 reviews · from $69

Meet Jerry or the Chilli Cool China team in Chengdu for a market visit, Sichuan tea, and a hands-on mapo tofu lesson with a professional chef. You’ll explore local spices, cook in a professional kitchen, eat your dish with a drink, and take home recipes and a souvenir.

“100% Recommend this class. We were met at the station by Jerry and taken to a local food market. The food Market was an experience in its self and we ended up picking up some spices to take back home with us. After the Market Jerry tooRead more”

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6.Beijing: Dumpling-Making Class with wet Market visit

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 9 reviews · 5 hours · from $50

Meet May, Sonia, Peter, or another English-speaking guide for a wet-market visit and home cooking lesson in Beijing. With a local family, you will make dumplings, choose two Chinese dishes, share a meal, and drink tea. Private and small-group options are available.

“Peter was GREAT! He was friendly, knowledgeable, and engaging. He is extremely well traveled and easily draws cross cultural comparisons. The visit to the wet market was fun. Our dumpling teacher was engaging and informative. With that said, a tour that was listed as approximately 5 hours lasted under 3. It was certainly long enough but, had we known the true duration, we would have made other plans for the rest of the day.”

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

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 8 reviews · from $100

Spend four hours with Chilli Cool China exploring a Chengdu spice market, completing a small ingredient hunt, and cooking Dan Dan noodles in a professional kitchen. Guides such as Lance, Ocean, and Amy help explain the market and local flavors. Hotel pickup is available within Chengdu’s second ring road.

“The excursion to the local spice market in a small group was a great experience and cooking together was great fun. Our guide was very charming and had lots of interesting details for us. The "treasure hunt" on the spice maket was a great idea! :)”

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8.Beijing: Vegan Home Cooking & Local Market Tour with Sanxia

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

Join Sanxia in Beijing’s Tongzhou District for a market visit and hands-on vegan cooking class. You’ll choose seasonal ingredients, make dumplings, noodles, buns, and other Chinese dishes, then share tea and a home-cooked meal. English and Chinese sessions suit private groups of 1 to 8.

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

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9.Dumpling Cooking Class and Local Market Tour

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 3 reviews · from $80

Visit Zhaojunsheng Vegetable Market near Beijing’s Hutong area, choose fresh ingredients, then prepare and cook dumplings from scratch in a traditional courtyard. Your English-speaking instructor guides the four-hour class, with several fillings and vegan-friendly choices. Groups are limited to eight people.

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

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 3 reviews · from $90

Spend 4.5 hours with Chilli Cool China exploring a Chengdu spice market, tasting local snacks, and learning to prepare spicy and non-spicy hotpot. Guide Lance leads the experience, with a professional chef teaching ingredient cutting, dish presentation, and hotpot cooking.

“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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