The Lancang-Mekong River is known as the “Danube of the East,” supporting more than 70 million people along its path.

In China, it’s the Lancang River.

It becomes the Mekong once it flows out of the southern province of Yunnan and runs through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

In the first of a series about the waterway, Meng Qingsheng takes a look at the severe drought that has plagued communities along the river.