A solitary man and an ox cart travel across an area where locals went fishing less than a year ago in Damoguzhen County, Yunnan. 'The old folk say it has never dried up in their lifetimes.' Photograph: Jonathan Watts / Guardian

A solitary man and an ox cart travel across an area where locals went fishing less than a year ago in Damoguzhen County, Yunnan. ‘The old folk say it has never dried up in their lifetimes.’ Photograph: Jonathan Watts / Guardian

Drought in south-west China and the Mekong basin