Three days of rain have eased the drought that has ravaged China's eastern province of Shandong since September, said the provincial government sources.

Moderate to heavy rains were recorded in most parts of the province from Friday evening to Monday morning, with the rainfall ranging from 25 to 43 millimeters, according to the Shandong Provincial Hydrology and Water Resources Exploration Administration.

The acreage of the province's cropland affected by drought has been reduced to 900,000 hectares from 2.5 million hectares since rain began to fall.

The cities of Dongying, Weifang, Qingdao, Yantai and Weihai in the eastern part of the province are still experiencing drought conditions.

Severe drought since early September left over 1.9 million people short of drinking water in Shandong, according to local drought relief authorities.

The drought, the province's most serious in 30 years, also leftover 1.15 million domestic animals short of drinking water.

Shandong only registered 18 millimeters of rain over the last several months, down 81 percent of the average rainfall for the period.

Over 100 rivers and streams dried up in Yantai district alone.

Shandong is one of China's major grain growing regions, accounting for one-tenth of the country's total grain output. Winter wheat on 3.33 million hectares has withered and 233,000 hectares were not even planted because of the continuing drought.

The recent rain will help improve the soil moisture and enable some of the winter wheat to survive, according to agricultural experts.

Drought has also hit other parts of China recently. According to the China Meteorological Administration (CMA), rainfall of less than 20 millimeters was recorded in northeast and north China, the valleys of the Yellow, Huaihe and Yangtze rivers, as well as parts of central and south China in October.

Rainfall in these areas was down 50 to 90 percent, while the temperatures were two to four degrees centigrade higher, according to CMA.

Experts urged drought-hit areas to conserve water to minimize harm to crops.

(Xinhua News Agency November 28, 2006)