Gov. Jerry Brown is leading a state delegation focused on climate change, but during the first day, in Chengdu, the diplomacy included a quick swing by that city’s “Panda Base.”
 
It’s home to dozens of the animals which, in the summer humidity, mostly lay in their grassy habitats and crunch bamboo. A fact Brown noted.

"So, they sit around a lot. In the wild they have to keep moving, don’t they?" the governor asked.

The governor and the chairs of the California Air Resources Board and Energy Commission also split off for a private opportunity to hold a baby panda behind closed doors.

Brown had this verdict: "Well, very good. These pandas are very cute, very interesting. They remind me of my dog Colusa."
 

At the end of the tour, the Panda Base staff gifted the governor a book about--of course--pandas.