China’s Drought

1 minute read
By TIME

A shortage of rainfall in China’s southwest has left millions without water

Dry as a Bone

A farmer and his horse walk on a dry reservoir bed in drought-hit Luliang County, in Yunnan province. A severe lack of rain across a large swath of southwest China is now affecting more than 50 million people.Reuters

Dust in the Wind

Ethnic Yi women hoe a field to plant mulberries on a hillside on the outskirts of Kaiyuanin, Yunnan. The drought, the region's most severe in 60 years, has affected sugarcane, rubber and coffee crops.Reuters

Disaster

A farmer squats in front of his house as he waits for water to be delivered by the local government.Wong Campion / Reuters

Rationing

Villagers line up to collect drinking water from a well at a drought-hit village in Chuxiong. The tragedy has left more than 24 million people without adequate amounts of drinking water.Reuters

Vessels

A civil staff prepares plastic water tanks to be delivered to the ravaged areas in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.Lin Yiguang / Xinhua / Zuma

Stuck in the Mud

Ships lie bottomed on the dried-up riverbed of the Yangtze River in Chongqing.Zhao Junchao / Zuma

Down Deep

A villager carries water unfit for human consumption out of a well for her cattle. The Chinese government is delivering 1.42 million tons of grain to the drought-stricken provinces.China Daily / Reuters

Cracked

A woman touches the base of a dry reservoir in Shilin, in Yunnan province. The drought is not expected to end until the beginning of the rainy season in May.Lin Yiguang / Xinhua / Landov

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