Nine years ago, Tom Carter traveled from San Francisco to China, responding to a job posting that turned out to be a scam. He managed to find another job as a teacher, and saved enough money to embark on a 56,000 km trip through all of China's 33 provinces that lasted two years. Carrying a camera – just a a 4-megapixel point-and-shoot – Carter captured some amazing images of the widely varying landscape, people, and architecture across the nation. Photo: Buddhist pilgrim family from Sichuan. (Photo by Tom Carter via The Atlantic)

A woman dressed up as a zombie takes part in a zombie walk in the Gaslamp Quarter during the Comic Con International convention in San Diego, California July 13, 2012. (Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

Miley Cyrus broke onto the scene as “Hannah Montana” in 2006. Since the show ended, she’s been desperate to shed the Disney image, first with “Can’t Be Tamed” in 2010, then with open marijuana use and twerking on Robin Thicke’s crotch in 2013. (Photo by Getty Images)

A villager offers prayer to a dead body of an elephant, which is killed by lightning at atop of Bamuni hill in Assam's Nagaon district, on May 14, 2021. 18 wild elephants were found dead atop Bamuni Hills in Assam's Nagaon district today after lightning struck them during the showers in the area on May 12, 2021. At least 18 elephants are suspected to have been killed by lightning in northeastern India, officials said on May 13 as they launched a probe into the incident. (Photo by Biju Boro/AFP Photo)

Ali al-Naami, convicted of murdering his three daughters, is placed on a carpet to be executed at a public square in Sana'a, Yemen, 16 June 2021. Defendant Ali al-Naami, 40, convicted of killing his daughters Rahaf, 7, Raghad, 12, and Malak, 14, in June 2019, was executed by an executioner in front of hundreds of spectators in a public square in Sana'a. He had admitted to strangling them and drowning them in a water tank after the mother left the house due to domestic disputes with him. (Photo by Yahya Arhab/EPA/EFE)

Models pose during the Paul Costelloe Presentation during London Fashion Week September 2021 on September 17, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Matt Crossick/Empics Entertainment/Getty Images)

A masked dancer performs as part of “Devi Pyankha” (Devi Dance) to mark the beginning of the Indra Jatra Festival in Kathmandu, Nepal on September 15, 2021. Nepali celebrate the Indra Jatra festival to worship “Indra”, the god of rain and to mark the end of monsoon season. (Photo by Sunil Sharma/ZUMA Press Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A woman walks past a painting by Jenny Saville entitled “Red Stare Head IV” on display in the Royal Academy of Arts' Summer Exhibition on June 2, 2011 in London, England. The Summer Exhibition is the world's largest open submission contemporary art show, now in its 243rd year, with over 12,000 entries received from 27 countries. The exhibition features over 1100 works of art including: painting, sculpture, photography, architecture and film, it officially opens to the public on June 7, 2011. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)