Continuous heavy rain in east China's Jiangxi Province has caused a significant rise in the water level of lakes and rivers and forced the evacuation of locals during the past two days.
Poyang Lake, China's largest freshwater lake, has risen rapidly due to heavy rain in recent days. The water level reached 19.01 meters at 06:50 on Thursday, surpassing the warning line of 19 meters for the first time this year.
Authorities said the water level is expected to continue to rise in the coming days due to the upstream inflows.
The hydrological and water resources monitoring center of Poyang Lake continued to issue a red alert for flooding at about 05:00 on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the water level of the Songhu section of the Jinjiang River in Nanchang City has reached 29.23 meters as of 08:40 Thursday, exceeding the warning level by 2.73 meters. It has also surpassed the historical record of 28.91 meters set in 1993.
Local authorities have made preparations for the possible evacuation of residents.
A section of the Jinjiang River in Yichun City also saw water level rise due to the rain on Wednesday, which exceeds the warning level by 1.46 meters. Local authorities found that it has posed a potential threat to the traffic safety of the G320 national highway.
The road authorities then dispatched eight heavy trucks with a combined weight of 400 tons to the affected bridge while keeping one lane open for regular traffic. By increasing the load on the bridge, authorities ensured the stability and safety of the bridge.
The bridge on the G320 national highway has survived the peak flow at 09:00 on Thursday and the bridge remains safe.
Due to the continuous rain, a landslide occurred on the hillside adjacent to a junior high school in Wanzai County in Yichun City on Wednesday. More than 700 teachers and students were evacuated to safety accordingly.
Heavy rain causes water level rise, forces evacuation in Jiangxi
E-commerce is helping farmers in the Aksu Prefecture in the landlocked region of Xinjiang in northwest China to overcome geographical obstacles and sell their produce to consumers across the country.
As the westernmost region of China bordering Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, Xinjiang is thousands of kilometers away from the eastern markets, a despairing distance for local fruit farmers.
"Our apples [used to] make it to domestic markets through traditional ways. The problem is that they have to be picked before they're ripe because of the long transport time," said Zhou Hu, owner of Aksu Qiguo E-commerce.
Zhou runs a company that sells fruits purchased from local farmers to online consumers in live-streaming shows.
"Previously, it might take five to seven days for the apples to arrive. Now with e-commerce, it takes two to three days," Zhou said.
As the business thrives, Zhou has helped raise the income of local farmers.
"We offer farmers 20 percent more of the total price than traditional buyers. That has a direct impact on farmers," Zhou said.
Seizing the opportunity brought about by e-commerce development, Rizwan Guli Erkin opened a store named Ga Beng Cui Dry Fruit Store on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, to help her parents sell paper shell walnuts.
"The walnuts are grown by my parents. They only know how to grow them but don't know how to sell. So after college I've helped them with sales," she said.
Another one who has spotted this opportunity and returned home to build local businesses is Zheng Haozhe, CEO of the Future Village, an accommodation business in Onsu County of Aksu.
"I went to the U.S. when I was 14. I started from the ninth grade in high school. The U.S. has given me a very good education, but now, I feel very grateful to come back to my country and keep building my country, especially in a border area in the western area where things are not very developed," Zheng said.
E-commerce helps Xinjiang farmers reach markets across China
