Ning Bo and Xu Weixin / Shanghai Daily news

More than 43,000 residents were evacuated last night from Shanghai's coastal areas, flights were grounded and ships called into port as the city prepared to face what could be its worst storm in eight years.
Though typhoon Matsa was still well out on the sea during the early evening, 100-kilometer-an-hour winds and torrential rain swept most parts of the city.
At 9pm, the city issued a red-level typhoon alert - the second-highest alarm - signaling that the worst of the storm was only six hours away and that rainfall would exceed 30 millimeters.
Matsa, named after a Laotian fish, was 410 kilometers southeast of the city at that point, packing sustained winds of 162 kilometers an hour and gusts up to 180.
Residents were told to remain indoors last night and today, as the storm was expected to make landfall in Wenling City in neighboring Zhejiang Province this morning, according to the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau.
The evacuations took place along the coast in Jinshan, Nanhui, Fengxian and Baoshan districts, Pudong New Area and on Chongming Island.
Some 43,600 people living in substandard housing were transferred to safety by 9pm - the largest such relocation in the city's history. Most were taken to schools, where they will remain until the typhoon departs, according to Shanghai Flood Control Headquarters.
Hongqiao international Airport shut down all flights last night. More than 1,000 passengers were grounded and struggled to retrieve their luggage and arrange for ticket refunds.
"It's really a mess. It seems the airport and air carriers don't have plans to deal with such things," complained passenger Huang Shaoxiong.
Most departing overseas flights were canceled at Pudong International Airport and many incoming flights were diverted to other fields.
China eastern Airlines, Shanghai's major carrier, suspended service at both airports from 10 last night until 3pm today.
Ferries and ships were ordered into port as winds around the mouth of the Yangtze River picked up to more than 133 kph.
Flood control officials were busy preparing sandbags, and some 40,000 police officers planned to spend a sleepless night guarding against possible disorder.
In pudong, sluice gates were opened, and the water levels in the district's canals were lowered from 2.9 to 2.5 meters to help prevent an overflow from the coming rain and flood tides.
Work on the nearly completed Donghai Bridge, which crosses the sea to the under-construction Yangshan Deep-Water Port, was suspended. Roads connecting the bridge to the mainland were blocked, and more than 4,000 workers and equipment were transferred to higher ground.
Construction was also halted at the port and the workers evacuated.
Building sites across the city were told to cease operations.
In the downtown, authorities were busy checking storm drainage systems. Police were preparing to block all roads lined with large concentrations of billboards to avoid possible casualties from flying debris.
The shanghai Public Sanitation Bureau dispatched 5,000 workers yesterday to dismantle more than 4,000 advertising boards. In Luwan District, holes were made in 10 gigantic billboards to allow the wind to flow through.
All landscape lights will be turned off during the storm period.
City workers reinforced 24,000 trees and pruned 80,000 others.
The shanghai Tour Bus Center said it has suspended more than 60 tour routes to the city's suburban sites and destinations in nearby provinces. It promises full refunds to those who've bought these packages.