Eighty-six flights going to south China's coastal Shenzhen City and Hong Kong were canceled as Typhoon Nuri approached, a major carrier said on Friday.

A man takes a photograph on the waterfront during typhoon Nuri in Hong Kong, South China, August 22, 2008. Hong Kong was buffeted by gale force winds on Friday as typhoon Nuri churned toward the major financial hub, with most of the city and its markets shut down ahead of a direct hit by its worst typhoon in five years. [Agencies]

In total, 18 flights heading to Hong Kong were canceled after 10 a.m. and 68 flights expected to arrive in Shenzhen after 3 p.m. were also canceled, a China Southern Airline official said.

Three flights heading to the coastal city of Zhuhai and Shenzhen landed at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport on Friday afternoon and 423 passengers were stranded, the official said.

In total, 284 passengers flying to Zhuhai took buses there or were accommodated in Guangzhou. The other passengers to Shenzhen were sent to hotels near the airport, he said.

The Xiamen-Jinmen sea route, a major cross-strait direct sea route between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, was suspended from traffic at 3:30 p.m. as the waves picked up.

The provincial observatory said the eye of the storm was in the South China Sea about 180 km from Shenzhen as of 8 a.m. on Friday, packing strong winds.

Typhoon Nuri was moving northwest at 15 to 20 km per hour and was expected to hit the coast between Shanwei and Yangjiang in Guangdong Province between Friday afternoon and evening, the observatory said.

It warned it was highly possible the storm would make a head-on strike at the economic hub of the Pearl River Delta, where the cities of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Zhuhai and Macao were clustered.