Typhoon Haitang is approaching the mainland after battering Taiwan, and a number of local airports and expressways in eastern provinces have been closed.
   
Nineteen flights from Hong Kong to Taiwan were canceled and another 25 delayed, according to reports from Hong Kong, and another 24 flights from Taiwan to Hong Kong were also canceled.
   
The meteorological station of Fujian Province, which faces Taiwan across the Taiwan Strait, forecast that typhoon Haitang would arrive between the cities Quanzhou and Ningde early or around noon on Tuesday.
   
The typhoon, named after a Chinese flower, has speedily moved toward the central and north part of Fujian. Changle airport in Fuzhou, the provincial capital, has stopped operations and all flights cancelled or transferred to Xiamen and Shanghai.
   
Jinjiang Airport in Quanzhou has also cancelled all flights.
   
Eight traffic accidents occurred on the Ningde-Luoyuan section of an expressway in Fujian, and two thirds of billboards along the Fuzhou-Quanzhou expressway were destroyed.
   
To reduce damage caused by typhoon, Premier Wen Jiabao has urged local governments to be well prepared.
   
The State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters issued a circular calling on local governments in Fujian to move people to safe places and to take effective measures to safeguard their life and property.
   
In Zhejiang, another coastal province in east China, 326,000 people were evacuated and 25,739 ships have taken shelter in harbors.
   
Shanghai is also threatened by the approaching typhoon, which has caused river water to rise to near warning levels.
   
Shanghai flood control and drought relief headquarters urged citizens to reduce outdoor activities.

(Xinhua News Agency July 19, 2005)