CHONGQING/SHANGHAI—Residents living near a tributary of the Yangtze river in the southwestern region of Chongqing clambered along the dry riverbed on Thursday amid an unprecedented drought across the region that could last another month.
“I am actually pretty worried, because the water has been cut off in my compound,” said Tian Feng, a 27-year old resident exploring the riverbed.
“Originally, I planned to see if I could walk directly from here to the other side of the river,” she said. “Because the water over there is still not dried out yet, I cannot cross.”
A chain that holds a boat jetty lies exposed on the dried-up riverbed of the Jialing river, a tributary of the Yangtze, that is approaching record-low water levels in Chongqing, China, on Aug. 18, 2022. (Thomas Peter/Reuters)
Though not completely dried up, dead fish were visible on the exposed flats of the Jialing, a long winding tributary that flows through three provinces before joining the Yangtze in Chongqing. Residents could safely reach a pier of the Qiansimen Bridge overlooking the river….