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Tropical Storm Hagibis to Hit China Later Today [UPDATED]

Posted: 06/15/2014 11:41 am

tropical storm hagibis

UPDATE 2:35pm June 15: There have been train delays and suspensions of service in Guangdong due to the storm, reports the People’s Daily.

As of now, service on train G6309 has been suspended from Guangzhou South Station to Chaoshan. Train service on the Xiamen-Shenzhen Railway is limited to only 80 km an hour from Huizhou Station in Zhan’an District. Other trains have been reported late.

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A code white typhoon warning is in effect as tropical storm Hagibis is expected to make landfall with mainland China later today, reports CCTV. In Hong Kong, typhoon signal number one has been hoisted.

Hagibis is estimated to land in the coastal region between Shantou, Guangdong and Xiamen, Fujian later this afternoon or evening. The four cities expected to be hit the hardest include Shantou, Shanwei, Chaozhou and Jieyang.

At 7am today Hagibis was located 280 km southeast of Shenzhen, moving in a northerly direction. It was recorded yesterday moving at a rate of five to 10 kilometers per hour, and is expected increase its rate of speed to 15 km/h upon making landfall.

Guangdong will have precipitation today with some areas like Shenzhen experiencing torrential rains. Coastal regions will experience wind rated at category eight or nine and gusts up to category 10.

Waves are expected to be very high. At 8am, the Guangdong Emergency Response Center initiated a level 3 alert, mandating the return of all sea-going vessels.

There is one positive outcome of the arriving storm: Shenzhen can expect cooler temperatures of approximately 26 degrees Celsius later today as well.

tropical storm hagibisPhotos: Shenzhen Weather, CCTV News

Haohao
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Rain Continues to Fall Mercilessly on the PRD, Shenzhen Issues Red Alert [UPDATE]

Posted: 05/20/2014 2:21 pm

UPDATE 2: 4:22pm, May 2014. A post from the Shenzhen police Weibo tells us the areas facing the highest risk from the storm are the districts of Bao’an, Longgang, Longhua, Guangming New Town, Pingshan New Town, and Dapeng New Town. Police tells everyone to be vigilant and exert cautionshenzhen red alert rain weather

UPDATE 1: 3:06pm, May 20, 2014. Shenzhen has just issued a red alert weather warning. As a result, protocol states that middle and elementary schools are now closed, workers are discouraged from going to work, and delays are to be expected for public transportation.

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As Dongguan issued a rain alert earlier today and the forecast calls for precipitation to last until Friday, the mounting costs of a this past week’s torrential rain is estimated at RMB 205 million and at least two fatalities.

The Guangdong Provincial Ministry of Civil Affairs has reported the storm and flooding is responsible for two deaths and one missing person. The victims include an eight-month pregnant woman who was washed away in a landslide when it destroyed her home in Pingshan New District, Shenzhen.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs reports the rain has affected a large area of Guangdong since it began on May 15 including the six cities of Shenzhen, Shaoguan, Meizhou, Shanwei, Qingyuan, and Yunfu. Twelve counties and 52 villages have also been hit by flooding of varying degrees.

As of 5pm on May 19, Guangdong had a total of 100,200 people affected by the storm, in which 17,800 people were evacuated. 131 buildings have collapsed, and 6,300 square kilometers of crops have been affected.

Meanwhile, Guangzhou was hit hard with rain on Sunday before noon when 50mm fell within an hour. An accumulation of 400mm was recorded in Tianhe District and caused a 3km-long traffic jam.

The rain in Huizhou has affected some 10,000 residents and is said to have caused eight landslides. 428mm of precipitation was recorded in the 24 hour period before 6am on May 18.

A weather forecast for Guangzhou says that rain will continue everyday this week until Friday, but that lightning will cease after today.

Photo: Al Jazeera, Shenzhen Police via Weibo

Haohao
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Guangzhou jittery after false reports of knife, bomb attacks

Posted: 03/17/2014 7:15 am

It was a busy weekend for police, as a series of knife fights and bomb threats broke out Saturday across the province. While all of the threats proved to be false alarms, the reports sent jitters throughout the province in the wake of the Kunming knifing spree just one month ago.

The first incident occurred at a clothing wholesalers’ market in Tianhe district at 8:31a.m., when a suspected thief yelled “knife attack” while being questioned by police . His shout sent onlookers running for their lives, leaving many clothing stores ravaged by the escaping crowds:

Clothes trampled by crowds. photo credit: Sina weibo user 洞庭西居士

The second, unrelated incident occurred in Liwan district at 12:20 p.m., when a fight broke out. The public scattered in panic, causing a bottle-neck in the hallway, the Jinyang Net reported on March 15, citing a statement by the city’s police bureau.

Later, in Haifeng County in Shanwei, a suspected bomb was reportedly placed in front of a McDonald’s in Lantian Square. The police arrived and cordoned the scene; but, soon discovered it was a false alarm. “It’s not a real bomb. We suspect it’s a vicious prank. The police are looking into the case now,” said one officer, quoted by Yangcheng Evening News on Sunday.

Here are some images of the scenes from the Lantian square and the “bombing device”:

Police cordoned the suspected area at Lantian Square. Photo credit: Sina weibo user 匿名告白在仁荣中学

The suspected bombing device placed in Lantian Square. Photo credit: 海丰吧

Similar rumours of knife attacks were also heard in Chengdu in Southwestern Sichuan Province. Last week, six people died as a result of a knife fight between two Uighur food vendors in Changsha, central Hunan Province.

Reverberations of the Kunming attack are expected to continue across the country, and it will likely take some time to calm the public’s nerves.

Haohao
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Usagi kills at least 25 in Guangdong, east coast hardest hit

Posted: 09/23/2013 2:34 pm

Typhoon Usagi, the most powerful storm of the year, has killed at least 25 people in Guangdong, BBC News reports.

A beach in Shenzhen as the typhoon made landfall, image courtesy of BBC News. All beaches in the province were closed.

The eastern part of the province was hit particularly hard, as 13 were killed in Shanwei, six in Shantou and two were killed in Jieyang, according to Nanfang Daily. Over 2.7 million people were affected in the province.

This banyan tree that was at least 40 years old was toppled in Liwan District

The Pearl River Delta was also badly affected. Hundreds of flights were cancelled from Guangzhou and Shenzhen as well as many train services.

Lessons were cancelled at local schools ahead of the typhoon, but they will resume tomorrow, according to Guangzhou Daily.

This image of a rat being thrown up into the air by the typhoon in Shenzhen did the rounds on Sina Weibo

Haohao
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Child trafficking ring busted, 14 of the rescued babies were sold by their own parents

Posted: 02/6/2013 9:00 am

After four child trafficking rings were smashed in a cooperative effort by police in six Guangdong cities on October 17 last year, it was discovered Monday that 14 of the rescued babies had been sold by their own parents, according to Sina News. Another baby died while being transported by the criminals.

The parents received between 20,000 and 30,000 yuan for the children. Three of the childrens’ parents have already been arrested and all 13 of the infants now reside in orphanages in Huizhou. Another was adopted.

In May last year, police in Huizhou, Meizhou, Heyuan, Dongguan, Jiangmen and Shanwei began to cooperate after three babies were rescued and three trafficers were arrested in Heyuan.

The effort culminated on October 16 when 27 were arrested and the rest of the babies were rescued.

Police are now seeking out the rest of the parents and the orphanages are trying to find homes for the children.

In a country that prides itself on its family values, netizens are outraged that any parent could consider this. One Sina Weibo user said: “If you can’t afford a baby then don’t have one.” Another wished for all the parents to get the death penalty.

Haohao
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Shenzhen official blows scads of public money on family tomb and ancestral temple

Posted: 01/28/2013 1:50 pm

The lavish temple that Lin Jian is accused of owning

A low-level government official based in Shenzhen’s Longgang District has been accused by villagers in Guangdong Province’s Shanwei Municipal Region of building family monuments with public money. The villagers claim he built a family tomb with 100,000 RMB and an ancestral temple with 1 million RMB, Liaoning Satellite Television reports.

As the province pilots forcing officials to declare their assets, netizens are eager to know where the official, Lin Jian, got the money. According to residents of Tanxi Village in Lufeng, despite being based in Shenzhen’s Nanwan Street, Lin has used public money to build the family monuments.

The cost of burying the dead has been a controversial issue in China in recent years. Many families are choosing the more affordable and environmentally friendly method of sea burials.

The tomb that allegedly belongs to Lin’s family

The ancestral temple has elements of both Ming and Qing Dynasty architecture and was built with top quality materials, the villagers claim. If their claim is true, then the constructions would be unaffordable to somebody in Lin Jian’s income bracket.

This news comes at a doubly inopprtune time for Lin as China has just announced data on its level of income inequality. It was the first time since 2001 China had officially announced its GINI coefficient, which showed tremendous disparity between China’s wealthy and those less fortunate.

Haohao
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Maybe the air will improve? Shenzhen to move factories

Posted: 11/29/2011 1:41 pm

Maybe more days like this?

Good news for Shenzhen, maybe not so much for people in other towns in Guangdong.

China has announced that it will begin cleaning up the air in Shenzhen (and Beijing, which badly needs it) by moving 10,000 factories over the next five years.  The announcement came at the start of a climate change conference in South Africa.

The Times of India has a few more details:

The shutdown will give the local government 7.5 million square meters of land to develop into high-end industry, state run Xinhua quoted Science, Industry, Trade and Information Technology Commission as saying.

Shenzhen mayor Xu Qin said 4,000 factories will be transferred to an industrial park in the neighbouring city of Shanwei and 5,500 will be shifted to other cities in Guangdong province.

So Shenzhen’s air problem will now become Shanwei’s (I’m sure they’re thrilled).

Even though “closing” factories or improving their efficiency would be better than simply “moving” them, it’s a good first step to clearing the air in what should be one of China’s prettiest southern cities.

Haohao
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