Tropical storm Higos, the 17th this year, will drop heavy rain on parts of south China's Guangdong and Hainan provinces over the next two days, the National Meteorological Observatory said on Thursday.

The office advised everyone in those regions to prepare for the rain, as well as lightning storms and gale-force winds.

Tourists in coastal cities of the island province of Hainan, such as Sanya and Bo'ao, have been advised to avoid offshore activities over the next three days.

Higos was centered about 700 km southeast of Zhuhai, Guangdong, as of 5 p.m. on Thursday, and it was moving north-west at 20 km per hour.

The storm is gaining momentum as it nears eastern Hainan and the mid-west regions of Guangdong, according to the national observatory.

Higos, which formed on Tuesday in the Pacific Ocean, comes on the heels of storms Jangmi and Hagupit, which together killed some 20 people in China.

(Xinhua News Agency October 3, 2008)