China travel alert: Tourist spots closed, flights cancelled amid heavy rains and storms

Extreme weather batters tourism in China: Flights cancelled, travel warnings issued amid storm threats

Heavy rains lashing China have left at least 26 people dead in the past week, flooding city streets and threatening farming and industrial activity, as two more tropical storms barrel toward the nation.

Tropical storm Prapiroon is expected to make landfall near the border of China and Vietnam on Tuesday. Another system, Gaemi, has already caused heavy rainfall and flight cancellations in the northern Philippines, while authorities in Taiwan issued a warning it could affect people on the island in the coming days, before moving toward China.

The northern metropolis of Zhengzhou was forced to close schools and tourist spots last week, while cars were inundated on roads and parking lots. At least 14 people in Sichuan and a dozen in Shaanxi died over the weekend due to flooding and a bridge collapse.

In addition to the human toll, the extreme weather raises risks of damage to everything from croplands and coal mines to fishing boats and offshore oil platforms, according to China’s National Mine Safety Administration.

The heavy precipitation could impact coal mining in the country’s third-largest production hub, Shaanxi, and hydropower generation, which has already seen a 21% surge in the first half of the year. Gaemi’s projected path across the Taiwan Strait is set to cross an area with dozens of offshore wind turbines.

Rainfall could also affect corn and soybean growth in the north and rice in the south, right on the heels of heat waves and drought that have already withered some crops in the country’s major agricultural areas.

China has already seen bouts of extreme weather this year that have left a trail of damaged farms and infrastructure in their wake. The country’s battles with flooding spans thousands of years, and meteorologists warn it will only get worse as climate change exacerbates extreme fluctuations in weather.