China Tells People Who Weigh Less Than 110 lb To Stay Indoors

Chinese state media outlets have urged people who weigh less than 110lb to stay indoors as the country braces for extreme winds this weekend.

Typhoon-like gales are expected to sweep through northern China from Friday to Sunday, with Beijing postponing major sporting events, closing parks, suspending dozens of train services.

The region’s 22 million residents have been warned against non-essential travel, while those weighing less than 110lbs have been told they could be ‘easily blown away’.

The warning that those weighing less could be swept away has been trending on Chinese social media.

Dozen of flights have been cancelled as Mongolian gusts of up to 93mph are to sweep across northern Chinese provinces.

Strong winds carrying sand and dust from Mongolia are normal at this time of the year, but climate change has made weather events more extreme.

Beijing issued its first orange gale alert in 10 years for this weekend, the second-highest of four tiers.

Temperatures in the capital were set to fall by 12 degrees Celsius on Saturday, and meteorologists warned that wind speeds could rival or exceed April records dating back to 1951.

Heavy snow is expected to blanket parts of the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia as well as northeast China, while southern China could be hit by the most intense hailstorms so far this year.

A half marathon in Beijing scheduled for Sunday in which humanoid robots were due to race alongside humans to showcase China’s technological advances has been postponed by a week.

Fifty-six train services to or from the capital were cancelled on Friday and 103 for Saturday.

As of noon local time, China Southern Airlines (600029.SS), opens new tab had cancelled 31 flights for Friday and 17 for Saturday.

More than 4,800 trees across the city were either reinforced or pruned to reduce the risk that they would break or fall.

Natural disasters in China caused direct economic losses of 9.3 billion yuan ($1.27 billion) in the first two months of 2025, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.