Huge parts of China have been affected by
some of the worst drought conditions in decades. Fishermen, farmers, and
wildlife have been enduring hardships for months now. In an effort to
alleviate the crisis, China's Three Gorges Dam has been discharging
water to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. However,
since early June, a series of torrential rainstorms has been pounding
southern China, overwhelming parched farmlands and triggering some of
the worst flooding since 1955. So far, 175 have been reported dead and
86 missing. Chinese officials say they plan to double investments in
water conservation projects, as the country deals with a shortage of 40
billion cubic meters of water each year. Gathered below are recent
images from China, a nation that has been coping first with too little
water, then with far too much. [38 photos]
Farmer Lu Keshuang holds his rake as he takes a break from turning the
soil in his drought-affected field near the village of Zhuanghuyu,
located 80 kilometers north of Beijing, on February 23, 2011. China's
long drought in northern wheat areas has been alleviated by recent heavy
rains. (Reuters/David Gray)
A boat is seen stranded on the cracked bed of a dried area of Xieshan,
which is part of Poyang Lake in east China's Jiangxi Province May 4,
2011.
(Reuters/China Daily) # 
a dead turtle lies on a dried riverbank of the Yangtze River under the
Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge in Jiujiang in Jiangxi Province, China, on
June 2, 2011.
(AP Photo/ Eugene Hoshiko) #
Water drips from a sprinkler head near residential apartment buildings
in Beijing, China, on Thursday, March 24, 2011. China plans to double
its investment in water conservation projects as cities face shortages.
Minister of Water Resources Chen Lei says two-thirds of Chinese cities
have trouble accessing water. Every year the country is short of 40
billion cubic meters of water.
(AP Photo/Andy Wong) #
In this photo taken June 2, 2011, a fishing boat is left abandoned in
the bottom of the dried-up Poyang Lake, a vast wetland turned dry by
China's worst drought in decades, in Xingzi in Jiangxi Province, China.
(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko) #
Villagers irrigate a wheat field with water collected from a nearby
pond in drought-affected Songxian county, Henan province February 22,
2011. China's drought-hit wheat-growing areas shrank further as of
Sunday as irrigation expanded, the Ministry of Agriculture said on
Monday.
(Reuters/Donald Chan) #
A man walks on a river shoal, which appeared after the water level of
the Yangtze River declined, as the city of Wuhan is seen in the
background, in Wuhan, Hubei province, on May 26, 2011.
(Reuters/Stringer) #
A fishing boat lies stranded among fishing poles, which are normally
almost completely underwater at this time of the year, at Honghu Lake,
near Honghu city in central China's Hubei province, on May 29, 2011.
(Reuters/David Gray) #
A farmer squats in a dried-up pool in Huangpi district of Wuhan, central China's Hubei province, on May 25, 2011.
(AP Photo/Xinhua, Zheng Feng) #
In this photo taken June 2, 2011, a bird observation platform stands in
the dried-up Poyang Lake, a vast wetland turned dry by China's worst
drought in decades, in Yongxiu in Jiangxi Province, China.
(AP Photo/ Eugene Hoshiko) #
A girl puts on her boots near a flooded tunnel in Wuhan, Hubei
province, on June 18, 2011. More than one million people in China have
been evacuated following downpours that have raised water levels in
rivers to critical highs, and triggered floods and landslides. Summer
rains have left more than 150 people dead or missing so far, and weather
authorities warned that flood-hit areas across the southern half of
China would experience a fresh round of heavy rainfall.
(Reuters/Darley Wong) #
People trapped by flood water wait to be rescued from the Fuxing Wood
Industry Co. building on June 6, 2011, in Jiujiang, Jiangxi Province,
China.
(ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images) #
A paramilitary policeman walks on a bridge in the flood-hit Wangmo
county, Guizhou province June 6, 2011. In the southwest province of
Guizhou, the easing of drought swung to flooding that killed 9 people
and left 13 missing in Wangmo County. Torrential rains there overwhelmed
the local river and flooded the county seat and other towns, forcing
6,000 people to leave, Xinhua news agency reported.
(Reuters/China Daily) #
A flooded area is seen in Sanjiangkou village, Zhejiang provincem on June 18, 2011.
(Reuters/Carlos Barria) #
Residents take pictures on the banks of a flooding river after heavy rainfalls in Dexing, Jiangxi province, on June 6, 2011.
(Reuters/China Daily) #
Ducklings rest on pieces of floating debris from a house damaged by the
floods in Sanjiangkou village, Zhejiang province, on June 18, 2011.
(Reuters/Carlos Barria) #
A man paddles through a flooded area in Banshan Cun, Zhejiang province,
on June 17, 2011. Pelting rain in parts of central and southern China
has forced hundreds of thousands of people to leave their homes and
prompted the government to demand safety checks on vulnerable dams, news
reports said on Thursday.
(Reuters/Carlos Barria) #
A Chinese man stands at the foot of a mountain damaged by a landslide
which hit Linxiang, central China's Hunan province, on June 12, 2011.
(STR/AFP/Getty Images) #
Damaged terraces and homes after flood water swept through Linxiang, central China's Hunan province, on June 11, 2011.
(STR/AFP/Getty Images) #
A woman shovels mud at her house after a landslide triggered by heavy rainfalls in Linxiang, Hunan province, on June 11, 2011.
(Reuters/Darley Wong) #
Residents smoke as they sit amid the debris after a landslide triggered
by heavy rainfalls in Linxiang, Hunan province June 11, 2011.
(Reuters/Darley Wong) #
A Chinese woman grieves during a mass funeral for victims of the floods
in Linxiang, central China's Hunan province, on June 11, 2011.
(STR/AFP/Getty Images) #
A man paddles a boat through a flooded area in Banshan Cun, Zhejiang province, on June 17, 2011.
(Reuters/Carlos Barria) #
People make their way through flood water in Lanxi, east China's Zhejiang province, on June 20, 2011.
(STR/AFP/Getty Images) #
A resident carries a man on his back through a flooded area in Moshan village, Zhejiang province, on June 19, 2011.
(Reuters/Carlos Barria) #
A bus drives through a flooded street after heavy rainfall on June 18, 2011 in Wuhan, Hubei Province of China.
(ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images) #
Residents climb ladders to get to higher ground from a flooded tunnel in Wuhan, Hubei province, on June 18, 2011.
(Reuters/Darley Wong) #
Chinese students make their way across a flooded school compound
walking along a row of chairs, in Wuhan, in central China's Hubei
province on June 18, 2011.
(STR/AFP/Getty Images) #
Chinese workers try to clear their store of floodwater along a street
in Wuhan, in central China's Hubei province, on June 18, 2011.
(STR/AFP/Getty Images) #
A woman holds her son at an evacuation center for people affected by
floods in the area around Sanjiangkou village, Zhejiang province, on
June 18, 2011.
(Reuters/Carlos Barria) #
Farmers pick watermelons inside a plastic tent at a flooded field in Kaihua county, Zhejiang province, on June 15, 2011.
(Reuters/Lang Lang) #
Vehicles piled up after they were swept away by flooding in Wangmo
County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, on Monday, June 6, 2011.
(AP Photo/Xinhua, Huang Shilin) #
People make their way through floodwater in Lanxi, east China's Zhejiang province, on June 20, 2011.
(STR/AFP/Getty Images) #
People make their way down a flooded street after a rainstorm hit the
town on June 15, 2011 in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province of China.
(ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images) #
Residents walk along a flooded street in Kaihua county, Zhejiang province, on June 15, 2011.
(Reuters/Lang Lang) #
Chinese farmers rescue their pigs in flood waters after heavy rains hit
Lanxi, east China's Zhejiang province, on June 20, 2011.
(STR/AFP/Getty Images) #
Vehicles are trapped in a flooded street after heavy rainfall on June 18, 2011 in Wuhan, Hubei Province of China.
(ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images) #
Fishermen prepare food on their boat on the River Brahmaputra in
Gauhati, in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, on Wednesday, June
15, 2011. According to media reports, China is considering a new plan to
divert the Brahmaputra waters from its upper reaches to fight drought
conditions in its northwestern territories. Worried that any diversion
of the river by China could impact his state, Assam Chief Minister Tarun
Gogoi will meet Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna Thursday to ask him to
take up the issue with the neighboring country, according to a news
report.
(AP Photo/ Anupam Nath) #
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