About Me

Hi! I’m Mr Zhao! (in English pronunciation, this sounds more like “Mr Chow”) This website has been created to ease some of the confusion about my previous cooking school that was based in Beijing. Since I have moved the school to Guangdong, some students have wondered what happened. I’m here to explain 🙂

My old cooking school website is still live. You can view it here. But because I am focussing on professional intensive courses for chefs and foodies now, I am no longer based in Beijing, it is better to separate the websites.

I am not new to cooking schools or working with international students. Because of my prolific time as one of Beijing’s main tourist cooking schools, I was featured in many media and news outlets. CNN being one of the biggest! You can tell, this was a long time ago and I was very young, and I am also told I was ” very skinny then” by my younger students today. Haha! So mean!

I was featured on CNN “Hidden Treasures”

What is my background?

As you can see, I am a third generation Chef. My family own a restaurant, and I have grown up cooking my whole life. I set up the successful Beijing based cooking school in 2006, focussing on one day cooking classes for tourists. But after Covid, tourism in Beijing stopped. I also decided I wanted to move from the city and create a more balanced life with my wife and young family.

Teaching has always been my passion, besides cooking of course! I worked in the restaurant for many years, but wanted to teach and share Chinese cooking with others.

I grew up in Huizhou, but lived in Beijing and Chengdu, Sichuan province. Which is why my cooking school also focusses heavily on these regions.

Why Huizhou, Guangzhou?

We chose Huizhou, on the beach to relocate to as it is my original hometown.I love to live here! Huizhou is always home, for me, and my students. Being located on the coast means we have fresh seafood year round, with abundant produce and fresh meats. This is also nicer for the students to learn here. We have many airport options and flight connections for international students, and the weather is quite nice year round.

I set up the school in Huizhou in 2026 and am instead focussing on developing chefs over a longer time. Ideally, you can stay for 3 weeks and gain more experience in Chinese cooking, but even a 1 week course will help you learn the basics of using a wok, making dumplings and noodles and how to select various kitchen items to help making your Chinese cooking really shine when you return home!

I want my students to return home confident in their Chinese cooking skills and armed with many amazing Chinese menus and dishes to share with their friends, family, or customers.