Weekly Photos: Sept 12 - 18

Poyang Lake's riverbed in East China's Jiangxi province is cracked and dry, Sept 15, 2011. The water level at Poyang Lake - China's largest freshwater lake - is experiencing severe drought conditions, declining at a rate of 10 to 20 centimeters per day and making the water surface contract to less than 1,000 square kilometers, far smaller than the annual average of 2,890 square kilometers during the same period. [Photo/Xinhua]

Villagers get water from an underground water tunnel in the Nahong neighborhood of Yakou Village, Longlin County in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region on Sept 15, 2011. The neighborhood has had no water supply since July, and villagers have to travel one hour to a water station two kilometers away to get water, twice every day. Residents who've been working outside the village all came back to pitch in during the drought, which has been the worst in the county in 50 years. A total of 164,000 local people were affected by the drought, and 64,000 people and 18,000 livestock are suffering from the drinking water shortage. [Photo/Xinhua]