Chongqing is facing a catastrophic flooding in its history, as the fifth flood of the Yangtze River this year began passing through the city on Thursday. So far, more than 260,000 people in Chongqing have been affected. More than 20,000 shops have been submerged so far.

Cuntan Station on the Yangtze River in Chongqing saw its highest water mark since 1939 on Thursday morning, according to the Chongqing Emergency Response Bureau.

Because of heavy downpours in the Sichuan Basin in the upper Yangtze region, the city flooded again on Monday, the fifth time this year, the Ministry of Water Resources said.

Chongqing municipality is located in the upper Yangtze watershed. The river flows 6,300 kilometers from glaciers in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau through the city, and then to Wuhan, Hubei province, and Nanjing, Jiangsu province, before reaching the East China Sea at Shanghai.

Video by Xiao Junhui