Heavy rains lashes China; 34 tourist destinations close, 7,000 people relocated

Beijing: Heavy downpours swept through parts of China, resulting in closure of 34 tourist destinations and relocation of over 7,000 people.

Officials closed 34 tourist destinations after torrential rains lashed a district on the outskirts of northeast Beijing Friday.

The Miyun district received up to 208.2 millimeters of rainfall yesterday prompting local authorities to issue a red alert for heavy rain and geological disasters.

More than 2,700 villagers were relocated and 8,100 personnel joined flood control efforts.

The district is forecast to see further rains last night, leaving the mountainous regions with a high risk of flooding and geological disasters.

Two other districts on the outskirts of Beijing -- Pinggu and Fangshan -- have issued orange alerts for rainstorms.

China has a four-tier weather warning system, with red representing the most severe, followed by orange, yellow and blue.

The city is forecast to be hit by rainstorms over the next three days, said the Beijing emergency response center.

In neighboring Hebei Province, cities of Shijiazhuang, Xingtai, Baoding and Langfang have also seen heavy rain.

From Thursday to Friday, precipitation was 18.7 millimeters on average, with some places receiving over 100 millimeters.

South China's Guangdong Province has also been hit by torrential rain since Thursday.

Conghua District of the provincial capital of Guangzhou suffered water-logging yesterday.

The local meteorological center said 18 meteorological stations in the province had reported 100 to 250 millimeters of rainfall yesterday, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Longchuan County in Heyuan City was hit by the heaviest downpour in 50 years. Over 4,600 people were relocated.