IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

Mark Zuckerberg masters Mandarin! Facebook CEO wows crowd in Chinese Q&A

Is there anything Mark Zuckerberg can't do? Well, maybe not. The wildly successful programmer, philanthropist and, of course, Facebook co-founder and CEO took the stage at Tsignhua University in Beijing on Wednesday and casually launched into a Q&A speaking Mandarin."My Mandarin is not good," the 30-year-old said. "But I want to try to speak Chinese today."The fact that he said that — and almost

Is there anything Mark Zuckerberg can't do? Well, maybe not. The wildly successful programmer, philanthropist and, of course, Facebook co-founder and CEO took the stage at Tsignhua University in Beijing on Wednesday and casually launched into a Q&A speaking Mandarin.

"My Mandarin is not good," the 30-year-old said. "But I want to try to speak Chinese today."

The fact that he said that — and almost everything else at the event — in Mandarin clearly impressed the crowd, who clapped, laughed and cheered in return.

While the talk marked the first time Zuckerberg publicly unveiled his skill with the difficult-to-learn language, he discussed his interest in learning years ago.

"In 2010, my personal challenge was to learn Mandarin," he revealed in a Facebook post. "I have always been interested in Chinese culture and learning a language is a great way to learn about a culture."

President of Tsinghua's School of Economics and Management, Qian Yingyi, presents a gift to Mark Zuckerberg (L), founder and CEO of Facebook, at Tsing...
Mark Zuckerberg meets with the president of Tsinghua's School of Economics and Management, Qian Yingyi, at Wednesday's Q&A.Today

Zuckerberg's interest had personal roots, too. In 2012, he married then-longtime girlfriend Priscilla Chan, and many of her family members speak Chinese exclusively.

"I wanted to be able to talk to them," he explained.

Follow Ree Hines on Google+.