6 World-Famous People Who Speak Mandarin Fluently

These famous people nailed Mandarin, can you?🇨🇳

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Learning Chinese is no easy task, but many famous people around the world have taken up the challenge and impressed audiences with their Mandarin skills. 

Here are 6 world-famous personalities who have successfully mastered Mandarin.

Famous Person in Chinese

Before we dive in, let's learn how to say "celebrity" or "famous person" in Chinese:

明星

míngxīng

star; celebrity

(lit. "bright-star")

名人

míngrén

celebrity; famous person

(lit. "known-person")

Famous People Who

Can Speak Mandarin

01. Mark Zuckerberg

Let's begin with Mark Zuckerberg.

The founder of Facebook (now Meta) surprised the world when he gave a full 30-minute interview entirely in Mandarin at Tsinghua University (清华大学 Qīnghuá Dàxué) in 2014.

He learned Chinese to better communicate with his wife's family and connect with Chinese culture.

马克·扎克伯格

Mǎkè Zhākèbógé

Mark Zuckerberg

✨ CEO of Meta/Facebook

NOTE

Mark once joked in Mandarin that his Chinese was "terrible" (很糟糕 hěn zāogāo) — but audiences were still deeply impressed.

02. John Cena

Professional wrestler, actor, and one of the most beloved foreigners in China. John Cena shocked Chinese fans with his fluent Mandarin during multiple WWE promotional tours.

约翰·塞纳

Yuēhàn Sàinà

John Cena

✨ WWE Wrestler & Actor

03. Mark Rowswell (Dashan)

No list of Mandarin-speaking celebrities is complete without Dashan, a Canadian comedian who became a household name in China for mastering 相声 (xiàngsheng), a traditional Chinese comedic art.

💬 His fluency earned him the title of "Ambassador of Chinese Language" from the Chinese government.

大山

Dàshān

Dashan

✨ Canadian Comedian & TV Host

NOTE

Want to learn more about Chinese comedy? Check out our post:

| Chinese Comedy | 4 Funny & Simple Jokes in Chinese

04. Vanessa Branch

Best known as the "gold-toothed" Giselle from Pirates of the Caribbean, Vanessa Branch is also fluent in Mandarin, which she majored in at Middlebury College alongside Theatre Arts.

瓦妮莎·布兰奇

Wǎníshā Bùlánqí

Vanessa Branch

✨ British Actress

 NOTE 

She starred in several Chinese films:

• 《爱情国境线》(Àiqíng Guójìngxiàn) - Love in Translation 
• 《功夫侠》 (Gōngfu Xiá) - Kung Fu Man
• 《牛奶也风尚》 (Niúnǎi yě Fēngshàng) - Milk and Fashion

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05. Mira Sorvino

An Academy Award-winning actress who is also fluent in Mandarin. Mira studied East Asian Studies at Harvard University and spent a year in China perfecting her skills.

米拉·索维诺

Mǐlā Suǒwéinuò

Mira Sorvino

✨ American Actress

 NOTE 

In an interview, she was asked about her Chinese fluency and humbly replied:

马马虎虎

mǎmǎhūhū

so-so

👉 This is a must-know phrase for learners to express modesty!

06. Takeshi Kaneshiro

Takeshi Kaneshiro is a popular Japanese-Taiwanese actor and singer known for his multilingual abilities. He speaks Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Cantonese, English and Taiwanese.

His language skills have made him a standout in the Chinese entertainment industry.

金城武

Jīnchéng Wǔ

Takeshi Kaneshiro

✨ Japanese-Taiwanese actor

Take it Further

              

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