When I think of heavy rain in Fujian, though, I feel concerned about the mountain communities. Every year the train line seems to be affected by landslides and floods in the rainy season or typhoons and big floating islands of hyacinth are washed out of the Jiulong River and go heading out to sea or wash up on the beaches, along with some dead pigs or goats. I feel apprehensive about the typhoon predictions. The local news always says something like, "This year twelve typhoons will affect Xiamen and four of them will be serious." My apartment windows are very poor quality and rain finds its way in, so I had to invent my own "typhoon protectors" to try to keep the rain out. As an Australian, it's almost taboo to complain about rain because we generally haven't got enough water (except for the big floods). So, I welcome it, I love the luxuriant deep green vegetation, but a little corner of my heart is apprehensive, for in southern China, some people always lose their life in the typhoons.