As the annual rainy season sets in, cities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong have been drenched, leaving roads flooded and schools closed.
On Friday morning, downtown Qingyuan City was battered by strong winds and torrential rain. The local meteorological department had issued a red alert -- the most severe warning in China's four-tier weather warning system -- for rainstorms and warned against thunderstorms and strong winds. The downpour flooded low-lying areas, blocking roads and trapping residents.
According to the municipal meteorological department, Qingyuan saw an average rainfall of 85 millimeters from 8:00 to 20:00 on Friday, and winds of magnitude 8-10 smashed into some parts of the city for a short time during the period.
Affected by the heavy rainfall, some primary and secondary schools and kindergartens were suspended.
On the same day, neighboring Zhaoqing City was also deluged, with traffic being heavily disrupted.
According to the municipal emergency management bureau, as of 9 on Saturday morning, traffic had returned to normal following all-out clean-up efforts.
Heavy rainstorms hit south China's Guangdong Province
China's movie box office is enjoying a moviegoing frenzy over the May Day holiday, amassing over 900 million yuan in just the first two days of the five-day vacation period.
As of 21:50 Thursday, data from box office tracker Maoyan showed that the holiday, which started on May 1 and will run until May 5, had seen around 913 million yuan (roughly 126.13 million U.S. dollars) in combined revenue from box office sales and presales.
Eight films are featuring on the silver screen during the holiday led by highly anticipated peacekeeping mission-themed film "Formed Police Unit", Hong Kong action crime thriller "Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In", and comedy "The Last Frenzy".
"So far, the occupancy rate of the cinema during prime time has reached between 80 percent and 90 percent. Compared with the same period last year, there has been an increase of around 30 percent in the number of moviegoers during the May Day holiday," said Yuan Teng, general manager of a cinema in Yingtan, east China's Jiangxi Province.
Industrial insiders also pointed out that during the holiday, animation films are trending in domestic film industry, fueled by fast-growing demand for family-oriented movies plus a soaring number of young moviegoers.
As of 21:02 Thursday, the animated feature "Spy x Family Code: White", as one of the top-earning films in Japan this year, has earned more than 147.15 million yuan (around 20.33 million U.S. dollars). Meanwhile, "Howl's Moving Castle," a restored version of the 2004 masterpiece by Japanese animation guru Hayao Miyazaki, raked in 76.8 million yuan (about 10.61 million U.S. dollars).
China's film market embraces May Day moviegoing frenzy
