Villager Yang Jiawei holds a mussel shell on a parched pond at Benzhai Village in Shizong County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Feb. 22, 2012. Since December, the persistent drought in Yunnan has affected more than 6 million people, leaving at least 2.4 million people and 1.5 million livestock short of drinking water, said the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Civil Affairs on Wednesday. [Xinhua]