Online reservations and ticket sales began at noon on Tuesday. The zoo has advised visitors to refrain from loud talking, feeding the animals, using flash photography, or tapping on the glass and enclosures.

Both pandas are males from the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Panda in Sichuan province. De Rui is five and a half years old, and Bao Yuan is four and a half.

Xie Qingyang, director of the breeding station at the Sichuan center's Wolong Shenshuping Base, accompanied the pandas to Urumqi and described them as outgoing, though with distinct personalities. "Bao Yuan is a bit timid but always curious. He will come closer to see what I'm doing and stare at me, letting out a soft bleat," Xie said. "De Rui, on the other hand, is more lively and a bit of a foodie."