Anti-Japan protests spread to dozens more Chinese cities Sunday, as thousands of demonstrators agitated by the Japanese government's plan to buy several uninhabited islands near Taiwan marched in front of diplomatic compounds, attacked Japanese businesses and burned Japanese flags.

In the southern city of Guangzhou, demonstrators stormed into the first two floors of a complex that houses the Japanese consulate, breaking windows in a hotel and smashing a vehicle. In nearby Shenzhen, police fired tear gas and used a water cannon to disperse a large crowd of marchers. Japanese factories, grocery shops, restaurants and car dealerships were reported damaged in a number of cities, including Qingdao.

In Beijing, more than 1,000 marchers waving flags and carrying banners gathered for a second straight day in front of the Japanese Embassy, hurling water bottles at the building and chanting slogans such as "Knock down the little Japanese," "Long live the People's Republic of China" and "China will prevail."

A number of the marchers, most of whom were young men, carried pictures of Mao Zedong. Others wore shirts urging the boycott of Japanese products. Hundreds of Chinese police and security officers, some in black SWAT uniforms and others in camouflage gear and holding riot shields, lined the protest route and kept marchers circulating back and forth past the embassy building as a helicopter flew overhead. Scores of neighborhood watch volunteers, with red armbands pinned to their shirtsleeves, also patrolled the area.

On a nearby commercial street, Japanese restaurants were shuttered, with some hiding their signs behind tarps. Others hung Chinese flags and banners in front of their stores.