Yellow River water poured into north China's Tianjin Monday morning to help alleviate the city's water shortage.

Tianjin will receive 500 million cubic meters of water during the 170 days of water diversion.

The largest coastal city in north China has suffered serious water shortage due to a seven-year dry spell. With a population of several million, the city has adopted water-saving methods and raised the price for water to help reduce daily consumption from 2. 2 million cubic meters to 1.5 million cubic meters.

But the water shortage remains. From now until June next year, the city is expected to be short 500 million cubic meters of water, according to the government's prediction.

The Yellow River water will travel a 580-km route to reach Tianjin.