BEIJING, May 26 (Xinhua) -- China's national observatory on Sunday issued a yellow alert for rainstorms in a vast part of the country from now to Monday morning.

Until 8 a.m. Monday, heavy rain to rainstorms are expected to hit areas including Hebei, Guizhou, Jiangxi and Zhejiang provinces, Beijing and Shanghai municipalities, as well as Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the National Meteorological Center said.

Some of those regions will see up to 120 mm of rainfall within 24 hours.

The center advised local governments to keep alert to possible flooding, landslides and mudslides caused by heavy rain and recommended outdoor operations be halted in hazardous areas.

China has a four-tier color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe, followed by orange, yellow and blue.