A number of vehicles were damaged but no injuries were reported - in Beijing most residents followed authorities' advice to stay indoors after the city warned 22 million residents to avoid non-essential travel.
"Everyone in Beijing was really nervous about it. Today there are hardly any people out on the streets. However, it wasn't as severe as I had imagined", a local resident told the Reuters news agency.
While a businessman from the Zhejiang province had his flight home cancelled.
"Because of the severe winds, all flights scheduled for last night and today were cancelled. So I will probably rebook my flight in a couple of days. I'm now basically stranded in Beijing," he said.
The strong winds are coming from a cold vortex system over Mongolia and are expected to last through the weekend.
Beijing issued its first orange alert for strong winds in a decade with the strongest winds expected on Saturday.
China measures wind speed with a scale that goes from level 1 to 17. A level 11 wind, according to the China Meteorological Administration, can cause "serious damage", while a level 12 wind brings "extreme destruction".
The winds this weekend are expected to range from level 11 to 13, with conditions expected to ease by Sunday.
