Typhoon Bavi moves northward, lashes Qingdao with heavy rain

Typhoon Bavi marched northward Tuesday, unleashing torrential rain and strong winds on Qingdao in eastern China's Shandong Province, where authorities activated emergency measures to protect residents and infrastructure.

At 06:00 on Tuesday, the Shandong provincial meteorological authorities continued to issue a yellow alert for typhoon, the third-highest level in China's four-tier color-coded tyhoon warning system. The storm's center was located over Jimo District in Qingdao, a major shipping hub in the country, packing maximum winds of more than 60 km per hour.

Qingdao experienced widespread heavy rainfall from Monday night into Tuesday morning, with some areas hit by downpours and severe rainstorms.

Local authorities on Monday released water in advance from 11 medium and large reservoirs to increase flood storage capacity. Officials also conducted safety inspections on 474 small reservoirs to ensure clear flood discharge channels.

Offshore conditions worsened Monday afternoon through the evening, with waves reaching 2.5 to 3.2 meters along Qingdao coast. Seawater flooded sections of low-lying roads as storm surges pushed water ashore, prompting emergency response teams to quickly conduct drainage and flood control operations.

In downtown Qingdao, municipal workers were dispatched to key waterlogged areas Monday evening, while traffic police patrolled major roads and flood-prone intersections.

Typhoon Bavi, the ninth of the year, made landfall twice along the coast of east China's Zhejiang Province at 23:20 Saturday and again around midnight, then moved inland. It is the second typhoon this month following Typhoon Maysak, which brought heavy floods and wreaked havoc in southern China.

Typhoon Bavi moves northward, lashes Qingdao with heavy rain

Typhoon Bavi moves northward, lashes Qingdao with heavy rain

Local governments across China are rolling out a host of summer events, travel discounts, and new tourism products, as part of a national summer holiday cultural and tourism consumption campaign running from early July to late August.

China on Wednesday launched the campaign, with more than 450 million yuan (about 66 million U.S. dollars) worth of consumer vouchers to be distributed. Organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the campaign aims to improve the supply of seasonal tourism products and services and encourage people to enjoy travel during the summer holidays.

This summer, travelers will find a wider range of options, from mountain escapes and beach trips to family activities, museum visits, and local food experiences as more than 30,000 culture and tourism events are planned across the country.

Qinghai, which hosted the launch event, is promoting new scenic and self-drive routes that highlight its mountains, rivers, and cultural attractions.

"This summer, Qinghai is leveraging its plateau ecological advantages to build a distinctive brand around mountain climbing and snow mountain viewing. We are coordinating over 1,000 integrated activities across agriculture, sports, culture, tourism, commerce and wellness, ensuring that policies promoting cultural and tourism consumption directly benefit the public," said Ma Li, deputy director of Qinghai Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism.

The province will also offer 20 million yuan in tourism vouchers for tickets, accommodation, tour packages, and transportation.

Local governments across China roll out summer events, discounts to boost holiday travel