A powerful typhoon struck Taiwan on Monday, closing schools and businesses and grounding domestic and international air traffic as it drenched the western Pacific island.

Typhoon Fung-wong made landfall on the island's east central coast just before daybreak, packing winds of 169 kilometres per hour and leading to the death of at least one man.

It was expected to drop over 900 millilitres of rain on the central portion of the island before moving on. Perhaps half that amount was expected to fall on Taiwan's southern and northern extremities, including the capital of Taipei.

The storm was forecast to travel on to southeast Fujian province in mainland China, leading officials to begin what local media referred to as a "massive evacuation" of nearly 300,000 people.

Fung-wong (the name means "phoenix" in Cantonese) hit Taiwan just a week after tropical storm Kalmaegi killed 19 people and left six others missing on the island.

Authorities provided sandbags on Sunday to citizens in low-lying areas.

Officials said dozens of villagers were evacuated from a mountainous region in southern Kaohsiung where several houses were buried by mudslides caused by Kalmaegi.

Typhoons frequently hit Taiwan between July and September, often causing casualties in mountainous regions prone to landslides and flash floods.