A man is seen with a towel tied around his head to escape hot weather as a heat wave hits Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China. Photo: Reuters

People walk on a dried-up bed of a reservoir, amid hot temperatures, while many regions from southwest to east of the country along the Yangtze river have been experiencing weeks of record-breaking heatwave in Changxing, Zhejiang province, China. Photo: Reuters

An aerial view shows the Yangtze river that is approaching record-low water levels during a regional drought in Chongqing, China. Photo: Reuters

People swim in the Jialing river, a tributary of the Yangtze, that is approaching record-low water levels during a regional drought in Chongqing, China. Photo: Reuters

Local resident Zhong watches her husband swim in the river, from the dry riverbed of the Yangtze river that is approaching record-low water levels during a regional drought in Chongqing, China. Photo: Reuters

Local farmer Chen Xiaohua, 68, stands underneath a canopy of melon plants that died as the region is experiencing a drought in Fuyuan village in Chongqing, China. Photo: Reuters

A dredger is anchored in the Yangtze that is approaching record low water levels in Chongqing, China. Photo: Reuters