Sixteen-year-old Vera Kalinina, from Sudoverf, Russia, was thrilled to see live pandas on Monday at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Sichuan province.

It's appropriate because Kalinina is one of 17 people from 14 countries chosen to be United Nations Panda Champions for the Global Goals. For five days this week, 15 of the 17 are in Chengdu to learn about pandas.

The envoys are from Algeria, Nigeria, Britain, Russia, France, Mexico, Columbia, Peru, Jordan, the United States, South Korea, Pakistan, China and Japan. Their trip, financed by the breeding center, is part of their prize for winning an online contest. Two of the panda envoys couldn't make the trip.