Two Tech Giants in Beijing: Mark Zuckerberg Speaks Chinese, Tim Cook Takes Selfies

In addition to being the world's youngest billionaire, and winning favor in China for marrying a Chinese-American woman, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg now also speaks Chinese.

Having just joined the board of directors of Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management, Zuckerberg visited Tsinghua and surprised the audience by asking if he should speak in Chinese, drawing the expected from the future capitalists in attendance. He then did a half-hour in Chinese, which you can watch below, and either hate yourself for not learning Chinese while running a zillion-dollar company, or feel pretty good about yourself because Zuck's tones suck.

This is Zuckerberg's fourth visit to the country where his product is not available. He said he started studying Chinese because he likes challenges, and because his wife Priscilla Chan's grandmother doesn't speak any English. Rich, brilliant, and filial.

If you're at one of Beijing's Apple Stores this week, be on the lookout for a tall, gray-haired gentleman with glasses looking around – it might just be Apple CEO Tim Cook.

The apparently non-Mandarin-speaking Cook told Apple employees he would be visiting Beijing for a question-and-answer session.

China is Apple's second-biggest market after the United States, and while Apple founder Steve Jobs never came here, Cook has been a somewhat regular visitor, dropping by local Apple Stores to scope the scene.

The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus went on sale in Beijing October 17, with earlier mob scenes avoided by moving much of the sales and pre-ordering online. Apple sold 10 million of the new iPhones in its first three days following its US debut on September 19.

Photo: Facebook, Stefen Chow