On July 21, 2012 (June 3, 2012 in the lunar calendar), Beijing experienced a severe rainstorm. From July 21 to 22, 2012 at around 8:00, most parts of China were hit by rainstorms, among which Beijing and its surrounding areas suffered the strongest rainstorm and flooding in 61 years. As of August 6, 79 people had died in Beijing due to the rainstorm. [3] According to the data of the disaster briefing held by the Beijing Municipal Government, the rainstorm caused 10,660 houses to collapse, 1.602 million people were affected, and the economic loss was 11.64 billion yuan. As a capital city, Beijing is neither close to the sea nor built on major rivers, which is very unusual and may be said to be unique among capital cities in the world. But in recent years, Beijing has repeatedly committed floods. Last June, torrential rains swept through the city in the summer, overwhelming the antiquated drainage system, flooding the streets of Beijing and paralyzing the normally thriving capital. On July 21, Beijing was hit again by torrential rains, this time more devastating than last year's. According to official reports, it was the heaviest rainfall to hit Beijing since data records began in 1951. Water scarcity is a more common problem for Beijing, which sits on the edge of the Gobi Desert and is threatened by drought. For centuries, the number one concern of central planning officials has been how to transport water to Beijing, rather than how to drain it. Guo Shoujing, a 13th-century scientist and water expert, designed Beijing's water network of lakes, dams and canals, which is still respected. These waterways not only provided water for the palaces of Kublai Khan and his descendants, but also allowed ships in the southern part of the empire to carry tributes to the emperor along the river and food for the people of the capital. The task of draining water was left to the open sewers, spillways and ditches. None of these facilities were particularly effective when it rained. In the past 1,000 years, Beijing has suffered 140 severe floods. The floods of 1626 and 1890 were particularly severe. In both cases, corruption, malfeasance and mismanagement reduced the government's ability to maintain public facilities. The drainage system in Beijing today dates back to the 1950s and was built according to a Soviet design. The drainage system relies on pipes, not ditches, to drain excess precipitation. Over the 20th century, planning officials gradually filled Beijing's ditches, moats and waterways, forcing residents to rely on the decrepit Sino-Soviet cooperation project to keep their streets from flooding with rain. It was clear that the facilities were no longer sufficient. When heavy rains fell this time, residents of Beijing began to take action on their own, allowing victims to take refuge in their homes or workplaces, using the Internet and Weibo to guide volunteers. Residents used their cars to provide free pickup services to thousands of passengers stranded at the Beijing airport. There were many touching photos circulating on the Internet showing ordinary people jumping into the floodwaters on the highway to rescue drivers trapped in their cars by rising water levels. The Chinese government has emphasised the "historic" nature of the storm in an attempt to shift public attention to the government's cleanup efforts. But many Beijingers are deeply sceptical. After the torrential rain, Beijing's call for donations was boycotted by netizens, and the catchphrase "donate your sister" circulated on the Internet. On July 21, 2012, torrential rains left five vehicles stranded in the water under the Guangqumen Bridge, and rescue workers rushed to drag the vehicles in the water. On July 21, an electric car driver tried to wade through the bridge hole when the railway bridge on Yaojiayuan Road was flooded in Chaoyang District of Beijing. On July 21, Beijing Drainage Group workers held hands in the water to search for the drain. On July 21, under the Lianhua Bridge in Beijing, the staff of Beijing Drainage Group were in the drainage rescue. On July 21, a double-decker bus was trapped by water near Lianhua Bridge. Beijing Fire quickly dispatched police and surrounding people to rescue a total of 11 trapped passengers and bus drivers. On July 22, around 1 am in Beijing, a gentleman was standing outside his house in his underwear. He said, "I was watching TV at the time, and suddenly there was a lot of water in the house. I didn't even have time to put on my clothes, so I jumped out of the window." On July 23, the family and neighbors of Wang Jiansheng, a villager in Daziluo Village, Fangshan District, Beijing, searched for his body in the river in Zhangcun, southeast China. On July 21, the night of heavy rain in Beijing, Wang Jiansheng died on his way back to send his classmates home. On July 23, in Zhangcun, Southeast of Hancunhe Town, Fangshan District, Beijing, by the river, his younger brother Wang Jianxue anxiously called out his brother's name. On July 25, the farewell ceremony of Ding Zhijian, the drowned driver of Guangqumen, was held in the Mei Hall of Babaoshan Funeral Home in Beijing. Relatives, friends and colleagues sent him on his last journey. His wife held Ding Zhijian's portrait in her hands and showed despair. On the evening of July 21, Ding Zhijian was driving an off-road vehicle home. He was trapped in a 4-meter-deep water under the Guangqumen Bridge on the Second Ring Road. Unfortunately, he drowned and died at the age of 34. On July 23, the deputy director of the Beijing Fangshan Public Security Bureau took off his pants and went into the water with the rescue personnel to carry the body of the victim. On the evening of July 21, Li Fanghong, the head of the Yanshan Xiangyang Road Police Station, was rescued by a power line that fell into the water in Fenghuangting Village, which was severely flooded. Unfortunately, he died. On July 22, villagers who participated in the rescue in the rain told the scene of Li Fanghong's sacrifice. At 9 am on July 23, thousands of people queued up to bid farewell to Li Jianmin, the mayor of Dachengzi Town, at the Miyun County Funeral Home in Beijing. On July 25, 78-year-old Shu Yanglan stood in front of the mudslide-hit house in Sancha Village, Dashiwo Town, Fangshan, Beijing. She has lived in this house since she was 7 years old. On July 25, a house in Tangmu Port Village, a disaster area in Hebei Town, Fangshan, Beijing, was washed down by the flood, and the whole house fell into the river. On July 25, Beijing Fangshan Beicheying Village, many villagers have left their homes and sought refuge in the highlands. The houses eroded by the rainstorm have left indelible marks. On July 25, Beijing Fangshan Beicheying Village, many villagers have left their homes and sought refuge in the highlands. The houses eroded by the rainstorm have left indelible marks. On July 25, Beijing Fangshan Beicheying Village, many villagers have left their homes and sought refuge in the highlands. The houses eroded by the rainstorm have left indelible marks. On July 25, Beijing Fangshan Beicheying Village, which was hardest hit by the rainstorm, a red high-heeled shoe lay unrecognizable on the muddy road. The 17.5-kilometer section of the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway (Nangangwa Railway Bridge section) is the most serious section of Beijing's heavy rain. Due to its low-lying location, it has been submerged by stagnant water for 54 hours from 6:00 on July 22 to 11:00 on the 24th. On July 24, in Nangangwa Village, Fengtai, Beijing, a little boy played with a big water gun in front of his house. As a young boy, he did not understand what kind of disaster the heavy rain brought. On July 23, a rusted truck dried winter clothes soaked in floodwaters behind it in Fangshan District, Beijing. Villagers carrying supplies in Shengshuiyu Village, Hancunhe Town, Beijing, on July 25. On July 26, at the Beijing Beiche Camp resettlement site, a villager said that it was a candle given to her by a volunteer, and she was reluctant to use it.