Foreign visitors to China can create instant camaraderie and goodwill by speaking a few words of Mandarin. But Mark Zuckerberg went one step further - he conducted a half-hour public conversation in the Chinese language.

The Facebook founder and CEO was supposed to open Wednesday's "dialogue" at Tsinghua University in Beijing with Chinese greetings like nihao (hello), but "he simply couldn't stop there", according to those present.

His heavily accented Mandarin brought waves of hearty laughter from his audience, which cheered and applauded him. One participant said, "He struggled with his Chinese, but it lightened the atmosphere."