Daily Life in China                  

Yuan River flood at Changde Hunan.

This scene overlooks the very beautiful park beside the Yuan Jiang River in Changde.  In the weeks before I took this picture I was counting the steps every few days to see how much the water rose and fell.  The level was going up and down from the 14th step.  This day I came back and the water was over all the steps by 10 feet or more.  The bridge support in the background looks like a little stub but at usual river levels is very long.

The water is up to the city gate now and another inch or two and it will flow onto the main city street.