US media wowed after Mark Zuckerberg conducts Tsinghua University Q&A in Chinese

With a self-deprecating warning that 'my Chinese is very bad', Mark Zuckerberg launched into a Q&A in Putonghua.

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Mark Zuckerberg delivers a speech at Tsinghua University in Beijing on October 22, 2014. Photo: AFP

Published: 12:00pm, 23 Oct 2014Updated: 4:55pm, 23 Oct 2014

With a self-deprecating warning that “my Chinese is very bad,” Facebook mogul Mark Zuckerberg launched into a Q&A at Tsinghua University in Beijing on Wednesday taking and answering all questions in Putonghua.

Judging by the reaction in the US press, a reader would be forgiven for thinking this was the first time an American had spoken a foreign language. “Mark Zuckerberg Speaks Mandarin, Blows Everyone’s Mind,” gushed magazine. “Of Course Mark Zuckerberg Speaks Fluent Mandarin,” read news site Mashable’s headline.

The Silicon Valley trade press was no less impressed, “Mark Zuckerberg nails a Q&A in Chinese like it’s no big deal,” said the , adding that the 30-year-old billionaire had “slayed the crowd”.

While more international titles were less ebullient – magazine described Zuckerberg as speaking Chinese “like a seven-year-old”, and news site Quartz described his Chinese as “broken” – the verdict was mostly incredibly positive.

On Chinese social media, users were equally impressed. “This is legendary,” wrote one Weibo commenter. “His Chinese is great,” added another, “I thought he would just say hello or anything, never expected he could do a Chinese Q&A.”