From May to July of this year, China has been frequently struck by heavy rainstorms. The storms, occasionally accompanied by thunder and hail, mainly took place in southern China, like Sichuan, Guangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, Hubei, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, and Hainan provinces. So far, more than 20 provinces have suffered from the disaster. Over 100 lives were lost and 20 million people affected. The economic loss caused by floods and storms has gone beyond CNY 35 billion at present. It is predicted that the rain will last for quite some time. Visitors are recommended to avoid travelling to areas where rainstorms are forecast.

Currently, plentiful manpower and material resources have been employed by the government to fight against the bad weather. In most disaster areas, electricity, telecommunications and transport have resumed normal operations. However, more reconstruction work shall be done after the disaster.

1. As many popular scenic spots are in the storm stricken areas, such as Phoenix Ancient Town, Jingdezhen and Xishuangbanna, it brings lots of inconvenience, even danger to tourists. On July 18th, the cable car in Gudou Mountain Scenic Area in Jiangmen, Guangdong Province was struck by lightning and stopped running, leaving 52 tourists trapped in the air. Fortunately nobody got injured and they were all successfully rescued by fire men.
2. The bad weather has caused many tourism activities to be cancelled. From June 27th to July 3rd, 2015, the Yangtze River Fengjie-Badong section has been closed for all ships, including cruise ships, due to a possible landslide caused by continuous rain. For safety reasons, bamboo rafting along the Li River has also been stopped for 10 days from May 15th due to the rising water level.
3. The bad weather has caused many flights and high speed trains to be delayed or cancelled.

1. Avoid going to mountainous areas if possible.
2. Take rain gear when travelling.
3. Do not go under trees or huge billboards to shelter in case of being struck by lightning.
4. Do not use electronic devices when there is thunder and lightning.
5. Keep warm and be cautious not to catch cold. Prepare some medicine in advance.
6. When going to beaches, protect yourselves from sunstroke and sunburn, if the weather changes. Keep an eye on typhoon and storm forecasts so as to schedule your itinerary more wisely.

TravelChinaGuide kindly reminds tourists to pay attention to weather forecasts when arranging their travel plans to China recently. See detailed Real Time China Weather Forecast.