Some tourist sites in Shenzhen have been closed temporarily as the Shenzhen Meteorological Observatory issued a blue alert for Typhoon Saola early this morning. 

Typhoon Saola is now less than 500 kilometers away from Shenzhen, according to according to the most recent forecasts. It entered the South China Sea last night and is moving northwest at a speed of 10 to 15 kilometers per hour to approach the coastal areas of eastern Guangdong, according to information released by the Shenzhen Meteorological Observatory.

The observatory upgraded the white alert for Typhoon Saola to blue at 6 a.m. today.

The typhoon might make landfall anywhere from Guangdong's Lufeng to the coastal area of Hong Kong on Friday afternoon or later, according to the observatory. It's also possible that it may not make landfall but instead pass offshore Guangdong and move southwest, it said. Shenzhen expects hot weather today, with the highest temperature reaching 33°C, and heavy rainfall from Friday to Saturday.

In response, Fairly Lake Botanical Garden in Luohu District, Dameisha Beach Park and Yunhai Park in Yantian District, and Rose Marine resort in Dapeng New Area, have been temporarily closed.

Guangzhou and Huizhou have also closed some seaside tourist sites.

A number of train routes are scheduled to be suspended in Guangdong Province starting this afternoon, according to China Railway Guangzhou Group.

The beginning of the autumn semester of middle schools and kindergartens will be postponed to next Monday in cities including Shantou, Huizhou, Jiangmen and Chaozhou in Guangdong.

Ferry services between Guangzhou's Nansha and Zhuhai and some ferry services between Guangzhou's Pazhou and Hong Kong's airport are suspended starting today.

Guangdong has activated a Level-II emergency response for floods this morning. The provincial authorities held a meeting yesterday morning to arrange preparations for the typhoon and urged local governments to give priority to preventing injuries and minimizing economic losses.