Tens of thousands evacuated as northern China hit by torrential rain

Many popular sites in the capital were temporarily closed, including the Forbidden City, libraries and museums.

The sprawling National Centre for the Performing Arts, located near Tiananmen Square, cancelled opera and musical performances scheduled for Sunday.

City officials ordered all school buildings to shut, as some students and teachers were using the facilities for training or extracurricular activities like sports during the summer break.

On Sunday, the Ministry of Water Resources raised its flood warning after some rivers swelled beyond alert levels.

In one mountainous village on the outskirts of Beijing, a local river was transformed into a gushing torrent, but no casualties were reported as 62 households in the surrounding area were evacuated the previous day, according to the local newspaper.

Doksuri was initially categorised as a super typhoon as it tore across the Pacific Ocean earlier this week, but it lost some intensity as it neared the Philippines, where it killed more than a dozen people.

It still brought colossal waves and howling winds of up to 175kmh to China’s southeast on Friday, causing significant damage.

More than 880,000 people in Fujian province were affected by the storm, state media said Sunday.

The storm is hitting China after a summer of record temperatures, with scientists saying the extreme weather is exacerbated by climate change.