(Above): A photo of the dried up lakebed of the Poyang Lake taken on May 25 (Below): Boats rest on the same area of the lake on May 11, 2010

The Poyang Lake, in central China's Jiangxi Province, shrinks greatly due to continued drought. The surface area of the lake is 66 percent smaller than that of last year. Part of the lakebed has become grassland.

Poyang is China's largest freshwater lake. Its maximum water area normally reaches 4,000 square kms in wet years.

A severe drought hit central China in spring and the early summer this year. The rainfall in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in that period was 40 to 60 percent lower than the same season of former years—the lowest level of precipitation recorded in the area since 1961.