Typhoon Maria, the eighth this year, made landfall at around 9:10 a.m. Wednesday in Lianjiang County, east China's Fujian Province, bringing gales of up to 42 meters per second at its eye, according to local meteorological authorities, Xinhua reported.
Chen Zuliang of the county flood control office said that more than 8,000 people had been evacuated. More than 6,800 people are on standby for rescue missions or to repair damage.
Fujian ordered all fishing boats to return to harbor by Tuesday noon and workers at offshore fish farms were required to return to land by 6 p.m.
In Fuzhou, the provincial capital, schools and factories in coastal areas were closed Wednesday. Most outdoor work was suspended.
The ferry between Xiamen in Fujian and Kinmen in Taiwan was halted and more than 850 boats had returned to Xiamen port.
The gales and rain have also disrupted trains. More than 200 trains to or from Fujian have been stopped.
The typhoon brought heavy rain to Zhejiang, a province neighboring Fujian, and forced the cancellation of 206 flights.
By Wednesday noon, 390,000 people in Zhejiang, including 270,000 in Wenzhou, had been evacuated and about 25,000 boats had returned to port or safe sea areas.