Scheduled debut of Japan-born panda cub crashes reservation website

A reservation website for the debut later this month of a Japan-born panda cub has crashed after a spectacular number of visits crammed into the server, haiwainet.cn reported.

Japanese-born panda cub Xiangxiang at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, Japan [Photo: IC]

According to Japanese media and Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, Xiangxiang will only show in public for two and a half hours every day during the debut. A total of no more than 2,000 people will be placed in 400 groups, limiting the visiting time for each to one to two minutes at most. Visitors are allowed to take pictures.

However, the the site for on-line reservation crashed soon after it was open at 6 a.m. on December 6 due to the overwhelming public enthusiasm. The booking hotline has also been extremely busy. Visitors were asked to try at later dates.

Xiangxiang's debut period is scheduled to run from December 19, 2017, to January 31, 2018, and will be divided into four stages.

The panda cub has been grabbing headlines on Japanese media since its birth in June, and selecting its name and every other important point of its growth all became source of public sensation. Within two weeks of birth, a total of 320,000 name suggestions had been received.