13 Beijing Cooking Classes, Compared

1.Dumpling Making Workshop with Meal and Tea

★★★★★★★★★★4.7 · 69 reviews · 3 hours · from $35Our pick

Meet your English-speaking guide at a hotel lobby at 16:30 for a three-hour Beijing dumpling workshop. Learn to shape dumplings, hear about their place in Chinese traditions, and share a meal with tea and other dishes. Hosts have included Julie, Rachel, Eric, Zoey, Jenny, and Heyang, though the guide varies.

“Heyang and his sister are excellent teachers. I booked this knowing nothing about how to make dumplings. But they guide you through the entire process and the meaning of dumplings in Chinese culture and cuisine. We made dozens of both meat and vegetable dumplings. I got to chat with the other participants as the dumplings were boiled. In the end, we got to eat a delicious meal and have a few beers. Highly recommended experience in Beijing.”

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2.Online Cooking Class Beijing Dumplings and Cuisine by Sunflowerli Renowned Chef

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 65 reviews · from $20Best value

Join Chef Miss Sunflower Li online from Beijing for a private, hands-on Chinese cooking class. Choose from dumplings, hand-pulled noodles, steamed buns and other dishes, with vegan options available. You cook from scratch in your own kitchen, using an ingredient list sent three days ahead. Classes usually last 60 to 90 minutes and can be scheduled for different time zones.

“I enjoyed very much learning to prepare dumplings and they turned out better than expected! It was so nice hearing all your anecdotes about family meal traditions! The ingredients list sent in advance was clear and instructions easy to follow, also well equipped with the two cameras. Thank you for this fun experience!”

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3.China’s Favourite Street Food Cooking Workshop

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 16 reviews · from $80

At a private workshop in Beijing’s Dongcheng district, Dom from Our Beijing guides you through the story and technique of jian bing, the city’s popular street crepe. Mix batter, cook your own creations, and try fillings ranging from traditional savory choices to chocolate and banana. The class lasts about 90 minutes and ends where it begins.

“Such a fun workshop. Dom explained the history of Jian Bings with an entertaining story, then the technique of making them and was there to help when needed. There was a plentiful assortment of fillings to use, from traditional savoury to sweet chocolate and banana. Read more”

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4.4-Hour Private Beijing Hutong Bike Tour with Dumpling Lunch

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 13 reviews · from $199

Ride Beijing’s hutongs with a private English-speaking guide, stopping at Back Lakes, Nanluoguxiang, the Drum Tower and a local dumpling restaurant. The four-hour tour includes lunch and Drum Tower entry, but not the bike: you scan for a Mobike with your own WeChat account. Sunflower is a named guide associated with the tour.

“Our Beijing hutong bike tour with sunflower was fantastic. Sunflower was very responsive throughout the booking process and happy to help us personalize our bike tour to meet all of our requested stops. I scheduled a private group toRead more”

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5.Beijing Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Hutong and Dumpling Making

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 10 reviews · from $190

Spend about eight hours with a private guide and driver, visiting Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, a hutong courtyard home and the Summer Palace. Hotel transfers, tickets, mineral water and a family dumpling-making lunch are included. Guides speak English, Spanish, French, German or Russian. Erica is one named guide, though your guide may differ.

“Erica is a very attentive tour guide. She took a lot of great photos and had a lot of information about each location.”

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6.Dumpling-Making Class with wet Market visit

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

Visit a Beijing wet market with an English-speaking guide, then make dumplings and local dishes in a family home. Guides have included May, Sonia, and Peter. The five-hour outing includes transport, tea, and a meal, with options for private or small-group bookings.

“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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7.4-Hour Private Tour of Calligraphy Class, Hutong and Dumplings

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 9 reviews · from $68

Spend about four hours learning Chinese calligraphy, walking through Beijing hutongs, and eating dumplings or Beijing-style noodles with a private group. The 1.5-hour class is led by a patient teacher called Richard in guest accounts, and morning or afternoon classes are offered. The meeting-point details conflict, so confirm where to meet before setting out.

“After very enjoyable and relaxing caligrafy class we went to a very tasty dumpling place. Vegeterian dumplings also available . Very tasty.”

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8.Private Beijing Tour: Forbidden City, Mutianyu Great Wall, and Dumpling Lunch

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 7 reviews · from $189

Start at 9 a.m. with a private guide and driver for Tiananmen Square, two hours in the Forbidden City and two hours at Mutianyu Great Wall. Lunch at Din Tai Fung is included. Hotel pickup and drop-off make this a practical way to fit Beijing’s best-known sights into a day.

“I was to be in Beijing for just one day. I found individual and group tours. Leo Chu From U China Travel Ltd. called to quote the cost of a single person tour. I found it was double of a group tour. After much thought, I decided it was the best way to see and experience the ciRead more”

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9.Private Hutong Culture Tour with Dumpling Cooking Class plus Cricket Fighting Game

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 5 reviews · from $176

Spend about six hours with a private guide, visiting Lama Temple and the Confucius Temple before riding a rickshaw through Beijing’s hutongs. At a local family’s home, make dumplings, watch cricket fighting, and eat lunch. Climb the Drum Tower for old Beijing views, then walk to Houhai Lake. Lily is a named guide associated with the tour.

“Lily was our guide and we have a fantastic time with her from the time we met her ..making the dumplings were just awesome food was great highly recommend this trip ..:”

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10.Vegan Home Cooking & Local Market Tour with Sanxia

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

Join Sanxia for a market visit and hands-on vegan cooking class in her Tongzhou home. You’ll select seasonal ingredients, make dishes such as dumplings and sesame noodles, drink Chinese tea, and share a meal. The private experience suits 1 to 8 people and includes a Fragrant Hills bookmark and photos.

“This was amazing! I did this cooking class back in September and it was such a great experience! I was the only person booking it that day, so we met a little earlier, went to the market together and bought all the vegetables fresh from there! Then, we went to Sanxia‘s apartment and cooked a lot of different dishes! It was really fun!! We all ate together and talked a lot. I actually ended up spending my whole day with Sanxia, her boyfriend Jürgen and their friends. It was my favorite day of my whole solo trip to Beijing, China ^^”

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11.Online Cooking Class Hand Pulled Noodles by Sunflower Li

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 3 reviews · 2 hours

Join Chef Sunflower Li on Zoom for a private, English-language lesson in making Xi’an-style Biáng Biáng noodles from scratch. The two-hour class is $99 for up to five people. You supply the ingredients, and Sunflower guides your group through pulling the wide noodles and making a flavorful sauce. Vegan options are available, and class times can be arranged for US or European schedules.

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12.Dumpling Cooking Class and Local Market Tour

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 3 reviews · from $80

Start at Zhaojunsheng Vegetable Market near a Beijing hutong neighborhood, choose fresh ingredients, then prepare dumplings from scratch in a traditional courtyard. An English-speaking guide and instructor leads the four-hour class, with different fillings, including a vegan-friendly option. You get your own ingredients and materials in a group of no more than eight.

“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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13.Private Dumpling Cooking Class in Local Family

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 3 reviews · from $160

Catherine Lu Tours pairs a wet-market visit with a private cooking lesson in a local family home. With hotel pickup and an English-speaking guide, you’ll learn to make dumplings and two local dishes, then eat what you’ve prepared. The four-hour tour costs $160 per person and is private to your group.

“Today we did the tour in Beijing with Gary and it was an unforgettable experience!!! What we liked the most was visiting an authentic local market, where we could discover the daily life of the people and taste typical products. Gary has been Read moreAuto-translated”

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