“As a photographer, peregrinator and naturalist, I have been searching for the ultimate unworldly world. I've always been drawn to unusual travel destinations. For me, to lose myself in a different culture is a great way to find balance in my life...”. – Li Xinzhao. (Photo by Li Xinzhao)

These stunning photographs really do show a land of fire and ice! The frozen landscape of the Olkhon Islands, Russia, appears to be ablaze in some of these pictures as the icy sheets of the glaciers reflect the early morning suns rays. (Photo by Vladimir Ryabkov/Caters News Agency)

A man rides a horse through a bonfire on January 16, 2009 in the small village of San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain. In honor of San Anton, the patron saint of animals, horses are riden trough the bonfires on the night before the official day of honoring animals in Spain. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

Christie's employee Natalie McFarlane holds an armature model of King Kong used in the 1933 film at Christie's on November 19, 2009 in London. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

A Border Collie competes in the Flyball during The World Dog Games at Acer Arena on October 31, 2009 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

Tokyo, “Electric City”. August 24, 2009. (Photo by Caribb; Source: Flickr)

This is the amazing moment a heroic hippo saved a gnu from certain death. After being bitten by a crocodile, the large antelope is seen being dragged slowly under the water. But in a miraculous turn of events, a nearby hippo is seen making its way across the water to help the animal in its hour of need. Photo: One of the biggest hippos protects the gnu as it makes its way back to the shoreline, guarding it from any further attacks. (Photo by Vadim Onishchenko/Caters News)

Growing cities, overuse of fertilizers and factory wastewater have degraded China's water supplies to the extent that half the nation's rivers and lakes are severely polluted. China aims to spend $850 billion to improve filthy water supplies over the next decade, but even such huge outlays may do little to reverse damage caused by decades of pollution and overuse in Beijing's push for rapid economic growth. Photo: Fishermen row a boat in the algae-filled Chaohu Lake in Hefei, Anhui province, June 19, 2009. (Photo by Jianan Yu/Reuters)