As city drowns, angels and demons rise to the surface

The heaviest rain to fall on Beijing in six decades presented a difficult challenge for both the city and its residents.

It was an ordeal that highlighted the inadequacy of the public drainage system, but it was also one in which some citizens rose to the challenge and others sank to new depths.

Most street cleaners, firefighters and policemen stuck to their posts while the rain came pounding down. Elsewhere, residents offered to give stranded people rides home; some even opened their doors to strangers, inviting them stay the night.