Best Cooking Classes in Shanghai
Eight Shanghai cooking classes compared by dish, language, duration and booking — from folding xiaolongbao to a full cooking-school session.
Make & Learn
Hands-on Workshops & Classes in China
A class is more than a place to visit. Start with what you want to make, then compare time, teaching language and what you get to take home.
How to choose
- Check whether you will make the item yourself or watch a demonstration.
- Confirm the teaching language and group size.
- Allow for travel time as well as the advertised class duration.
Explore by city
Shanghai
Best Tea Experiences in Shanghai
Seven Shanghai tea options from a Yu Garden teahouse to a Song-style whisking workshop, with the difference between drinking tea and making it spelled out.
Best Cultural Workshops in Shanghai
Six Shanghai workshops outside the kitchen: calligraphy, seal carving, kung fu, tai chi, temple sutra copying and a Song-style tea ritual.
Researched experiences
Source-checked options to compare; read each listing for what has and has not been confirmed.
- Nanxiang Xiaolongbao Making SessionLearn Nanxiang soup-dumpling techniques with a specialist.
- Cici's Shanghai Xiaolongbao ClassMake soup dumplings in a host studio, then eat them.
- GemTravel Xiaolongbao and Tea ClassMake xiaolongbao and taste tea with an instructor.
- Chef Yin's Shikumen Soup Dumpling ClassPractise soup-dumpling folding in a shikumen-style kitchen.
- Bonnie's Family Dumpling Class and MealMake dumplings with a local host and share a meal.
- Join a Five-Star Chef for Shanghai's Most Popular Soup Dumpling Making Experience - Eatwith (Klook)Join a chef-led soup-dumpling class.
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Beijing
Hands-On Craft Workshops in Beijing
Rubbings, silk flowers, opera masks and museum workshops, including three free sessions and how far ahead to book them.
Researched experiences
Source-checked options to compare; read each listing for what has and has not been confirmed.
- Beijing Dumpling-Making Class with a Local Grandma in a HutongFold and cook dumplings with a local host in a hutong courtyard studio beside the Forbidden City, then eat them.
- Beijing Farmers' Market Visit and Family-Style Dumpling Cooking ClassShop a traditional Beijing farmers market, then make dumplings from scratch in a host home and sit down to eat them together.
- Peking Duck Roasting Room Visit and Carving Experience at a 600-Year-Old BrandVisit the roasting room of a 600-year-old Qianmen duck brand, join the carving and eat in a private room.
- Hidden Hutong Walk and Peking Opera Mask Painting WorkshopWalk the hutongs where Peking Opera was born, then paint your own opera mask in a local studio.
- Peking Opera Craft Creation in BeijingNinety-minute opera mask craft workshop in a theatre inside Sanlihe Park, with costume try-on as a paid add-on.
- No.93 Courtyard Museum Traditional Rubbing ExperienceMake a traditional ink rubbing at a small free-entry courtyard museum in the Liulichang area and take it home.
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Chongqing
Researched experiences
Source-checked options to compare; read each listing for what has and has not been confirmed.
- Dezhuang Hotpot Museum: Make Your Own Hotpot BaseFour-hour hotpot tour that starts in a hotpot museum, moves to a DIY soup-base workshop and ends with a tasting session.
- LanBreeze Sichuan Cooking Class with Market VisitThree-hour afternoon cooking class with an English instructor, starting with a market visit and ending with the dishes you cooked.