PHOTOS: Beijing hit with first flood of the summer

By Ella Wong, July 21, 2015

After enduring a heat wave that brought suffocating temperatures hovering around the 40 C mark, Beijing was lashed with heavy rains over the weekend. Flooding brought even more chaos to the capital’s notoriously bad traffic and 1,644 residents of the suburban district of Fangshan were relocated.

Thankfully, flooding has not reached the epic levels seen in July 2012, when dozens died. The municipal government, which was heavily criticized at the time, says it has since improved the capital's anti-flood infrastructure, according to Shanghai Daily.

This summer is set to be a stormy one for China, with unusually high levels of cyclone activity in the Western Pacific.

Flooing in Beiing's Changping District on July 18

Flooing in Beiing's Fangshan District on July 17

Flooding on the streets of Beijng's Fangshan District

A man piggybacks a woman through the flooded streets of Beijing

Thunderstorms brought heavy rain to Beiing

Heavy rain in Beiing's Haidian District

Tourists line up in the rain outside Tiananmen Square

A giant pothole opened up in Beijing's Fangshan District after heavy rains

Meanwhile, on the other side of the country in Xinjiang, China’s National Meteorological Center today forecast record-breaking temperatures in the semi-autonomous region. In the past week, the mercury has risen above 35 C in most areas, and has even hit 45 C, reports China Daily.

[Images via China Daily and Sina]