China's Hunan and Jiangxi provinces, known for their rivers and lakes, are often portrayed as lands abundant with rice and fish.
However, even they have not been spared by a drought that has plagued a wide swathe of south and east China since August, usually part of the rainy season.
The drought has damaged crops and left 2 million people suffering water shortages and thousands of boats grounded on the shallow rivers or cracked riverbeds.
EXTREME WEATHER
The provinces, which often see devastating floods in summer, grabbed media headlines this month as the drought worsened.
Hunan received 60 percent less rain than normal in August and September. Jiangxi received 60 percent less in September and 90 percent in October.
The drought was worsened by unusually high temperatures. The average temperature in Jiangxi was 2.5 degrees Celsius higher than average, and the highest since 1963.
The Xiangjiang and Ganjiang rivers, two major tributaries of the Yangtze River running through the provinces, are reporting record low water levels.
The water flow in the Xiangjiang River is down to about 500 cubic meters per second, compared to 1,200 cubic meters per second, which is the average for the time of year.
Water levels in Poyang Lake in Jiangxi and Dongting Lake in Hunan, the country's two largest fresh-water lakes, are also at record lows.
