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 three-month-old Sumatran tiger cub named “Bandar” shows his displeasure after being dunked in the tiger exhibit moat for a swim reliability test at the National Zoo in Washington, on November 6, 2013. All cubs born at the zoo must take a swim test before being allowed to roam in the exhibit. Bandar passed his test. (Photo by Manuel Balce Ceneta/Associated Press)

Performers dressed like Stormtroopers dance during “The Empire Strips Back: A Star Wars Burlesque Parody” in Los Angeles, California, U.S., June 1, 2018. (Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

People attend the 49th annual New York City Gay Pride Parade in New York, New York, USA on 24 June 2018. (Photo by Erik Pendzich/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Paragliders fly towards the landing area of the “Acro Show” above Lake Geneva in Villeneuve, Switzerland on Sunday, August 26, 2018. (Photo by Valentin Flauraud/Keystone via AP Photo)

Girls sits on a bench during summer at the Central Park in New York, United States, 2011. (Photo by An Rong Xu)

Daniel Cheong, a dog behaviorist and trainer, steps over a leash as he walks a pack of dogs in Arlington, Va. on November 13, 2018. (Photo by Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)

A leopard attacks an Indian man as others climb a wall to get away from the animal in Lamba Pind area in Jalandhar on January 31, 2019. After a leopard was spotted in a house in Lamba Pind area of Jalandhar city, subsequent attempts to capture it led to the animal attacking at least six people, though none was injured seriously, local media said. (Photo by Shammi Mehra/AFP Photo)