China has a four-tier color-coded system for severe weather, with red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue.
Pakhar, the 14th typhoon this year, landed around 9 a.m. Sunday in the city of Taishan, Guangdong, bringing gales of 33 meters per second at its eye, the NMC said in a statement.
The NMC forecast it would move northwestward to enter Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Sunday evening while losing strength.
The agency forecast Guangdong, Fujian and Hainan provinces as well as Guangxi will see torrential rain from Sunday to Monday afternoon.
The heavy rainstorm expected in the southern parts of Guangdong and Guangxi could reach up to 180 centimeters.