Beijing residents were stunned when walnut-sized hailstones pelted the southern and eastern parts of the city for about 10 minutes at around 2:30 PM Tuesday.

Rainstorms and hail are normal in summer time, especially in June, July and August, said Guo Hu, director of Beijing Meteorological Observatory.

"This is the first time for me to see hail this year and it's rather rare to see such big ones, some might be even as big as walnuts. The rain grew violent suddenly after a loud thunder and then we heard the hailstones clapping at the windows and saw the white hailstones scattered in the green grass," a resident surnamed Luo said.

(Xinhua News Agency June 1, 2005)