China's Hainan province cleans up mess after Super Typhoon Yagi rages through island

Clean-up efforts are underway in south China’s Hainan Province after Super Typhoon Yagi raged through the island province on Friday.

Yagi, the 11th typhoon of this year, developed into a super typhoon of force 17 on the Beaufort scale. Around 16:20 Friday, the typhoon made landfall in Wengtian Township, Wenchang City of Hainan, picking up winds of over 234 km per hour.

The typhoon wreaked havoc in the island province, bringing heavy rainfall across most of the province, with some townships and villages pounded by severe rainstorms. The northern part of Hainan experienced strong winds ranging from force 13 to 16, which toppled trees and knocked out power in some cities and counties.

Yagi later headed northwest and made its second landfall in Xuwen County in the city of Zhanjiang, south China's Guangdong Province, around 22:20 Friday, said the provincial meteorological bureau.

As soon as the conditions allowed, road maintenance staff in Hainan started to chop off and remove the tree trunks blocking the roads, put warning signs around broken glasses on the road surface, drain the floodwater and clean up the debris bit by bit.

Local residents are advised to stay indoors, exercise caution in the aftermaths of Yagi and take care for their personal safety over the weekend.

Across the regions affected by the super typhoon, many cities in Hainan, Guangdong provinces and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in south China have suspended classes, work and production.

In Fangchenggang City of Guangxi, all 2,132 registered fishing boats and 4,824 cargo ships had returned to the port to take shelter as of Friday afternoon. The fishery administration department has mobilized personnel to patrol and inspect the fishing port to ensure that all those fishing boats and cargo ships are anchored.

China's Ministry of Water Resources warned on Friday that some rivers in Hainan and Guangdong provinces could see floods exceeding alert levels due to super Typhoon Yagi.

It is forecast that Yagi will continue to move northwest at a speed of 15 to 20 km per hour, then enter the Beibu Gulf region, where its intensity is expected to diminish. It is expected to make another landfall around the China-Vietnam border on Saturday afternoon, after which its wind force is likely to rapidly decrease, according to Guangdong's meteorological bureau.

China's Hainan province cleans up mess after Super Typhoon Yagi rages through island

China's Hainan province cleans up mess after Super Typhoon Yagi rages through island

Chinese cities, towns and villages are putting on dazzling light and lantern shows, staging distinctive folk customs performances, and holding festive mooncake banquets in celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls on Tuesday.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the most important festivals in Chinese culture. It falls on the 15th day of the eighth month on the Chinese lunar calendar and dates back more than a millennium. As a festival in honor of the moon and harvest, families reunite on the occasion to admire the bright full moon, light lanterns, and share the holiday pastry of mooncakes.

In the ancient city of Kaifeng of central China's Henan Province and Jinzhou City of northeast China's Liaoning Province, popular tourist attractions and landmarks are bathed in lights, promising a mesmerizing nighttime experience for local residents and tourists alike.

Beijing's famous Beihai Park, a public park and former imperial garden, is staging performances themed around bianzhong, or Chinese chime bells which has a history of over 2,000 years.

In tourist towns and villages of Yunnan Province in the southwest, Zhejiang Province in th east and Guangdong Province in the south, lively folk and dragon dances are gathering numerous locals and tourists to join in the festivities.

Audiences are enjoying a poetry recitation show in Hefei City, east China's Anhui Province, and a symphony in Zunyi City, southwest China's Guizhou Province, respectively.

This year, Suining City in southwest China's Sichuan Province and Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the northwest, have both prepared giant freshly made mooncakes enough to treat hundreds of people at a same time. And in a village of the southwestern Chongqing Municipality, people have prepared their own mooncakes on a flour ground from their newly harvested red sorghum.

"We are filled with the joy of harvest during the merry traditional festival. The festive mood is really nice," said Liu Ya, a local of Jiangjun Village in Chongqing's Bishan District.

Elsewhere, villages in Wuyuan County, east China's Jiangxi Province, are also celebrating their harvest of red pepper by drying them on the roofs. And another village in the eastern province of Shandong has recently held a large banquet for local households to share.

Outside the mainland, colorful lanterns are also dotting the various landmarks, streets and alleyways of Hong Kong and Macao, adding to the festive joy.

Celebrations held across China to mark traditional Mid-Autumn Festival