Yahoo TV

STORY: State-run broadcaster CCTV showed the cracked and exposed lake bed of the Poyang Lake in Jiangxi province, while the riverbed of Jialing river, a tributary of the Yangtze river in Chongqing, also displayed a similar fate.

In Nanchang, the provincial capital of Jiangxi, farmers directed water from a canal into the cracked fields to irrigate their crops in Xinhu village, CCTV showed.

Forest fires triggered by the severe drought in Chongqing burned across Ba'nan mountain on Sunday (August 21), CCTV reported. Authorities evacuated nearby residents and no casualties were reported.

State weather forecasters issued a heat "red alert" for the 11th consecutive day on Monday, as extreme weather continued to play havoc. They also raised the national drought alert to "orange" - the second-highest level.