Hail the size of fruit wreaked havoc in a city in Guangdong province on Monday, causing damage but no reported casualties.
According to the Nanfang Daily, hail smashed the windscreens of parked vehicles and sent people scurrying for shelter in Shantou, 280 kilometres east of Hong Kong.
Some residents wrote on Weibo that hail "the size of lychees", a local fruit, dropped at Shantou airport and elsewhere around the city amid heavy thunder and lightning. Other internet users said they felt alarmed, describing the storm as severe even for an area that often sees extreme weather.
The city government issued a hailstorm alert at 2:30pm, warning people to seek shelter, the newspaper said.
The hailstorm also affected the nearby cities of Chaozhou and Jieyang.