Bilis reached China's southeastern coast about 10 a.m. (0200 GMT) on Wednesday. Six hours later, there were no reports of casualties or serious damage, and the storm's winds had died down.
However, CNN weather forecaster Guillermo Arduino said southern China
was expected to receive 125 millimeters (five inches) of rain by late Thursday,
and that could cause mudslides and flooding.
He said, however, that the storm -- which had packed winds up to 260
kilometers (156 miles) per hour when it devastated
Taiwan late Tuesday and early Wednesday -- would not regain its strength
because it was interacting with land.
Interaction with land, or friction, weakens typhoons, which are fueled in part by the warmth off ocean waters, Arduino said.
"The storm appears to have weakened slightly since it landed," a flood prevention official in China's Fujian province said. "But the scope of this typhoon is broad, and we expect it to affect the entire province."
Hundreds evacuated
"What was expected has not hit us ... and we hope it does not," Maria Corazon Bahjin, Philippine consul general in Xiamen, told CNN.
She said Xiamen officials had said they would cut power to the city by noon (0400 GMT) on Wednesday, and that they had warned people to stay indoors and to cover their windows to protect against the storm's winds.
Meanwhile, hundreds of residents along China's southeastern coast were evacuated, officials then turned their attention to flood prevention efforts when Bilis began to lose strength.
Southern China began to feel the wrath of Bilis -- which killed three people and buried at least 18 others under mud as it ripped across Taiwan -- when the storm's feeder bands slammed ashore in Fujian province.
Although Bilis had been downgraded from a super typhoon before it reached China's mainland, weather forecasters said it had been packing heavy rains and winds reaching 230 kilometers (142 miles) per hour.
While a storm is considered a typhoon when its winds reach 120 kilometers (75 miles) per hour, a storm is classed as a super typhoon if its one-minute surface winds reach 240 kilometers (148 miles) per hour. A typhoon is any violent tropical cyclone originating in the western Pacific Ocean, especially in the South China Sea.
Bilis had been moving west-northwest at 33 kilometers (21 miles) per
hour, and had been expected to reach Xiamen by noon. Government offices
had closed for the day, and departures from the city's airport had been
postponed.
On Tuesday, Bilis, then classed as a super typhoon, swept across Taiwan, claiming three lives, injuring 21 others, trapping at least 18 in mudslides -- including nine trapped in a house covered by mud -- and leaving 10 people missing.
In Xiamen, a city in southeastern China with more than a million people, officials had issued storm advisories since Tuesday. However, there was little damage reported by 4 p.m. (0600 GMT) on Wednesday.
"What was expected has not hit us ... and we hope it does not," Maria Corazon Bahjin, Philippine consul general in Xiamen, told CNN.
She said Xiamen officials had said they would cut power to the city by noon (0400 GMT) on Wednesday, and that they had warned people to stay indoors and to cover their windows to protect against the storm's winds.
Meanwhile, hundreds of residents along China's southeastern coast were evacuated, officials then turned their attention to flood prevention efforts when Bilis began to lose strength.
Southern China began to feel the wrath of Bilis -- which killed three people and buried at least 18 others under mud as it ripped across Taiwan -- when the storm's feeder bands slammed ashore in Fujian province.
Although Bilis had been downgraded from a super typhoon before it reached China's mainland, weather forecasters said it had been packing heavy rains and winds reaching 230 kilometers (142 miles) per hour.
While a storm is considered a typhoon when its winds reach 120 kilometers (75 miles) per hour, a storm is classed as a super typhoon if its one-minute surface winds reach 240 kilometers (148 miles) per hour. A typhoon is any violent tropical cyclone originating in the western Pacific Ocean, especially in the South China Sea.
Bilis had been moving west-northwest at 33 kilometers (21 miles) per
hour, and had been expected to reach Xiamen by noon. Government offices
had closed for the day, and departures from the city's airport had been
postponed.
On Tuesday, Bilis, then classed as a super typhoon, swept across Taiwan, claiming three lives, injuring 21 others, trapping at least 18 in mudslides -- including nine trapped in a house covered by mud -- and leaving 10 people missing.
"This is one of the worst typhoons to directly affect Taiwan in many years, but I think everyone has paid a lot of attention to it, and the disaster was lighter than we expected," Taiwan Premier Tang Fei said.
One person died when the storm caused a retaining wall to collapse. Another died when he was hit by a door knocked down by the storm's winds. A woman in northern Taiwan was electrocuted when rain leaked into her home.
Crews were trying to rescue the nine people -- seven men, a woman and a child -- buried in their home in Jenai, a village in central Taiwan. Two others had escaped the mudslide with minor injuries.
"We are not optimistic about the situation," said Interior Minister Chang Poh-ya.
"I hope a miracle can occur as the military makes its courageous rescue efforts," Taiwanese Vice President Annette Lu said.
Taiwanese Defense officials said President Chen Shui-bian, on an official tour of Africa, had ordered the military to respond to disaster reports without waiting for approval from government leaders.
Meanwhile, police continued searching for four prisoners who escaped from a jail in T'aitung, in southeastern Taiwan, on Tuesday as prison guards repaired a leaking section of the prison's roof.
Taiwanese officials said the storm had cut power to more than 500,000 homes, and journalists reported that the typhoon's winds, which reached 260 kilometers (161 miles) an hour, shook concrete buildings.
Bilis' strength had diminished as it crossed Taiwan, with is sustained winds slowing to 165 kilometers (102 miles) per hour and gusts falling to 200 kilometers (124 miles) per hour. The storm's winds had gusted up to 260 kilometers per hour as it neared Taiwan.
Storm chaser Geoff Mackley told CNN that T'aima, a town in southern Taiwan, had apparently borne the brunt of Bilis. The winds, he said, had given way to torrential rains.
Despite its strength, Bilis had caused less damage than Super Typhoon Tim that devastated Taiwan in 1996, killing 17 people and injuring 60 others. After that storm, Taiwan's authorities set up a task force to ensure they were better prepared for future storms.
In anticipation of Bilis, Taiwanese officials had issued alerts, and said they were particularly concerned about central Taiwan, where a 7.6-magnitude earthquake hit last year. Mountains in that area had shifted and roads and bridges were still out in many areas.
"It is the duty of all local officials to stay as prepared as possible for the typhoon," Lu reportedly told officials during a meeting on Tuesday afternoon.
Bilis was the second powerful typhoon to hit Taiwan this summer. Last month, Typhoon Kai Tak killed one person and injured five others when it crossed Taiwan.
CNN Beijing Bureau Chief Rebecca MacKinnon, Journalist Andrea Chen, Journalist Jason Blatt,The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.