More than 170 tourists were stranded in east China's Zhejiang Province Monday as tropical storm Kompasu approached, local police authorities said.

The tourists, including six Russians, had to stay in Nanji Island of Wenzhou City as Kompasu triggered strong winds on the sea, cutting off ship services linking Nanji to the mainland.

The tourists, mainly from Zhejiang regions, arrived on the island Friday for sightseeing and had planned to return to the mainland to go home.

However, the tourists were forced to stay in hotels until ship services resume after the wind weakens.

Also in Zhejiang, more than 200 tourists and residents had been evacuated from Dachen Island of Taizhou City as of 5:00 PM Monday in case Kompasu paralyzes the navigation routes, according to Wu Jianguo, a police officer on the island.

"Kompasu," which means compass in Japanese, formed Sunday evening in the East China Sea and was moving northwest at a speed of up to 20 kilometers per hour, said the Zhejiang meteorological station in a statement Monday.

"Kompasu," along with "Lionrock" and the eighth tropical low pressure system, which is yet to be named, will jointly bring downpours to the coastal regions of Zhejiang Tuesday and Wednesday with wind speeds of up to 32.6 meters per second.

Torrential rains are forecast to hit both coastal and inland areas of Fujian, a neighboring province of Zhejiang, with rainfall of more than 300 mm in some coastal regions from Tuesday to Friday.

Also, all ships and fishing boats in the sea off Fujian and Zhejiang have been advised to take shelter from storms.

The Fujian provincial meteorological station said the two tropical storms and the tropical low pressure system might merge, causing unpredictable weather conditions.

(Xinhua News Agency August 31, 2010)