Luban Workshop helps promote Chinese cuisine in the United Kingdom. [Photo/lubanworkshop.cn]

Four Tianjin culinary master chefs and British Luban Workshop teachers and students served the Chinese Lunar New Year Eve dinner for more than 200 guests including Theresa May, prime minister of the United Kingdom, and Liu Xiaoming, Chinese Ambassador to UK, in the British Prime Minister's Office at 10 Downing Street, London, on January 31, 2019.

At the banquet, eight dishes with Chinese Tianjin flavor and local British cuisine patterns were highly praised by the guests. This was the first time that the British Prime Minister's Office has held a Chinese buffet during the Spring Festival.

It was also the first time that teachers and students of the British Luban Workshop were invited to serve the dinner, when it was less than two years before the inauguration of the British Luban Workshop.

In May 2017, Tianjin No.2 Commerce School and Chichester College, the largest further education provider in Southeast England cooperated to set up the British Luban Workshop, which is the second Luban Workshop established by Tianjin overseas and also first of its kind established in Europe.  

By offering Chinese cuisine culinary education and skills qualification certificate, the British Luban Workshop aims to provide vocational education and training in authentic Chinese culinary to improve the quality of Chinese catering services worldwide, to promote Chinese food culture, and ultimately, to create high-end Chinese cuisine brands.

In August 2017, the course of Chinese cuisine international teaching standards and resources developed by the workshop was approved and issued by Qualifi, a recognized UK vocational education qualification certificate awarding organization regulated in England by Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. The qualification was included in the national general and vocational qualifications framework in England, and was named Qualifi Level-3 Diploma in Chinese Culinary Arts (Luban).

In April 2018, this qualification was officially available in the national general and vocational qualifications framework in England, and it has been recognized by more than 3,000 universities and colleges in the European Union and the United States, and can be advanced to level-5 to 8.

The Chichester College opened the Luban Workshop Chinese Culinary Arts Level-3 teaching course on Nov 8, 2018, with 10 students from the United Kingdom, the Philippines and other countries enrolled int the course.