Shanghai closes over 50 key scenic sites over Typhoon Bavi

SHANGHAI, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Over 50 major tourist attractions in Shanghai have been temporarily closed or adjusted their operating hours as of 4 p.m. Saturday as Typhoon Bavi barrels toward the country's eastern coast, according to the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism and scenic sites operators.

Shanghai Disneyland adjusted its opening hours for Sunday and will open from 12 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Meanwhile, LEGOLAND Shanghai Resort temporarily suspended activity areas for its summer festival on Saturday and will be fully closed to visitors on Sunday.

Authorities in Shanghai upgraded the city's flood and typhoon emergency response to Level III, the third-highest in the country's four-tier emergency response system, on Saturday afternoon. As of Saturday noon, 34,000 residents in high-risk areas in Shanghai had been evacuated as a precaution.

Typhoon Bavi, the ninth typhoon of the year, is expected to make landfall along the coast between Wenling and Rui'an in east China's Zhejiang Province from Saturday night to early Sunday, according to the National Meteorological Center.

Zhejiang Province raised its typhoon emergency response to the highest level on Saturday. As of 8 a.m. on Saturday, Zhejiang had evacuated nearly 1.72 million residents to safe locations, local authorities said.

The typhoon is also forecast to bring heavy rains and strong winds to cities like Ningde, Nanping and Sanming in Zhejiang's neighboring province of Fujian. Authorities in Fujian had evacuated 188,400 people from areas considered at risk as of 5 p.m. Saturday. Enditem