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 large Pacific sideband snail slowly crosses a rain wet road in rural Douglas County, Oregon near Elkton on Sunday, December 2, 2012. The moisture loving snail should be very content with the recent heavy rains in southwestern Oregon and northern California. (Photo by Robin Loznak)

A dog sits in a plastic tub filled with water in Taipei, Taiwan, 28 July 2020. Betel nut seller Mr Luo, the dog's owner, said he puts his dog, a 12-year-old mixed breed called Ah Dai (Stupid), in a plastic tub filled with water whenever the weather gets hot. Ah Dai enjoys the bath and can sit in the basin for hours, according to Mr Luo. Luo has a dozen pairs of glasses for Ah Dai, so the dog wears different glasses every day and many tourists take photos of Ah Dai. (Photo by David Chang/EPA/EFE)

People assist a woman who was exposed to tear gas by pouring milk over her face after police fired tear gas and water canon to try and disperse protesters outside Parliament on November 17, 2020 in Bangkok, Thailand. The demonstrators gathered outside parliament, on Tuesday, as the Thai government met to discuss amendments to the country's constitution. (Photo by Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images)

People celebrate outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center after Democrat Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump to become 46th president of the United States, Saturday, November 7, 2020, in Philadelphia. (Photo by Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo)

Two costumed reveler seen at the City center where normally thousands of revelers dressed in carnival costumes would celebrate the Rose Monday parade on the streets in Mainz, Germany, 15 February 2021. The Rose Monday Parade has been cancelled due to the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic. (Photo by Ronald Wittek/EPA/EFE)

A couple kiss in front of a barricade set by demonstrators during clashes with police following a protest condemning the arrest of rap singer Pablo Hasél in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, February 18, 2021. Protests over the imprisonment of a rapper convicted for insulting the Spanish monarchy and praising terrorist violence have morphed for the third night in a row into rioting. Pablo Hasél began this week to serve a 9-month sentence in a northeastern prison. (Photo by Emilio Morenatti/AP Photo)