Several cooking schools and restaurant kitchens in Jinan offer half-day and full-day courses in traditional Shandong Lu cuisine — China's oldest and most historically influential culinary tradition. Classes typically cover knife skills, stock-making, and three or four classic dishes including the nine-turn pork intestine and sweet-and-sour Yellow River carp. Most courses are conducted in Chinese with English-speaking assistants available on request.
Lu cuisine is worth learning about partly because it is the foundation of Chinese imperial cooking and partly because the techniques — precise heat control, specific knife cuts, patient braising — are directly applicable to cooking at home. The meals you produce in the class are eaten for lunch, which has the virtue of making the experience immediately delicious. Book at least a day in advance through the major booking platforms.