Villages desperate for water as dry spell drains rivers, reports Hu Yongqi from Guangxi.

Yang Xue is eight months pregnant yet every day she spends hours ferrying 25-liter drums of water from the village water tank to her thirsty family. The 21-year-old knows she is putting her health and the health of her unborn baby at risk, but she says she has little choice.

Her village of Longying in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, one of the poorest areas in South China, has seen just 2.2 mm of rain since October and is suffering its worst drought for 50 years.