Typhoons are actually tropical cyclones. Both typhoons and hurricanes are tropical cyclones, but they occur in different places and have different names. They are called typhoons in the western part of the North Pacific Ocean and west of the international international date line, including the South China Sea and the East China Sea of China. Tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean or the eastern North Pacific Ocean are called hurricanes, which means hurricanes in the United States and typhoons in the Philippines, China and Japan. If it is in the southern hemisphere, it is called a whirlwind.