Children carry drums of water home from a local water tank. Twelve of the 14 cities in southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region are affected by drought, the regional flood-control and drought relief authority announced Monday. The drought had affected 522,967 hectares of farm land by March 11 and 1.76 million people were denied easy access to drinking water, 232,100 people more than seven days earlier, said a statement from the authority.