Typhoon Mangkhut, which has already left at least 66 people dead, has barrelled into southern China after lashing the northern Philippines, causing landslides that authorities fear may have buried dozens of people.

Key points:

• Typhoon leaves 64 dead and more missing after hitting Philippines
• More than 2.4 million people evacuated in Southern China
• Mass disruptions as thousands of flights and rail services cancelled

More than 2.4 million people had been relocated in southern China's Guangdong province by Sunday evening (local time) to flee the massive typhoon, and nearly 50,000 fishing boats were called back to port, state media reported.

The gambling enclave of Macau closed casinos for the first time and the Hong Kong Observatory warned people to stay away from the Victoria Harbour landmark, where storm surges battered the sandbag-reinforced waterfront.

Mangkhut made landfall in the Guangdong city of Taishan at 5:00pm local time, packing wind speeds of 162 kilometres per hour. State television broadcaster CGTN reported that surging waves flooded a seaside hotel in the city of Shenzhen.