The south province of Guangdong is on high alert for the approaching Typhoon Tianying that is expected to land a before Saturday noon.
  
At 2 PM Friday, Tianying was centered in the South China Sea 330 kilometers southeast of the city of Zhanjiang, the local Weather Bureau said.
  
It was moving northwestward at a speed of 12 kph in the coming 24 hours, with maximum sustained winds measuring the eighth degree and gusts up to the 10th degree.
  
It will lash the Xuwen County of Zhanjiang and the coastal areas of the Hainan Island between Friday midnight and Saturday noon, the bureau said.
  
The route of the powerful Tianying will be complicated and it will land rapidly with rainstorms, according to the bureau.
  
The local government has cautioned ships against sailing in the vicinity of the region and urged local fishing and shipping departments to take preparative measures against the typhoon. 

(Xinhua News Agency July 30, 2005)