Visitors walk through a tulip display in Chaya Mountain, Suiping County in Zhumadian, Henan Province of China on March 31, 2016. There are more than ten varieties of tulips here. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

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 fisherman throws a net for catching fish with his wife in Yanhu fisherman village near Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, China, 18 October 2018. (Photo by Aleksandar Plavevski/EPA/EFE)

Giant pandas enjoy food around a table at Chongqing Zoo, Chongqing, China on May 21, 2023. (Photo by Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A rider picks up a hada, a traditional Tibetan ceremonial scarf, during a horse racing event of the 18th Mount Qomolangma culture and tourism festival in Xigaze, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region on June 20, 2023. (Photo by Sun Fei/Xinhua News Agency/Alamy Live News)

Jesse Larios, 33, from Los Angeles, wears a bear suit while walking along Hollister Road in Gilroy, California, U.S., April 21, 2021. Larios, also known as Bear Sun on social media, is walking from his home in Los Angeles to San Francisco while wearing the bear suit as a social media fundraising event. (Photo by Brittany Hosea-Small/Reuters)

Jazmin Sawyers of Great Britain competes in the Women's Long Jump Final during the Athletics competition on day 8 of the European Championships Munich 2022 at Olympiapark on August 18, 2022 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

Drag performer Maxi Shield chats to her online audience on May 18, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. Drag performer Maxi Shield started hosting a live instagram chat show “Maxi's Couch Potato” as a way to keep performing and connected with fans on social media after perfomance venues were closed due to the COVID-19 outbreak. (Photo by Don Arnold/Getty Images)