A cat dressed in a traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirt takes part in a parade in Kiev, Ukraine on May 28, 2016. (Photo by Gleb Garanich/Reuters)

A Chinese People's Liberation Army soldier marches with members of an honor guard as they prepare for a welcome ceremony for visiting Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Monday, June 12, 2017. (Photo by Andy Wong/AP Photo)

A Ukrainian girl plays with balloons with the colours of her country's flag aboard the Corsica Linea ferry “Mediterranee” in Marseille, southern France, on April 26, 2022. Anna and her children enjoy the sun on the deck of a ferry moored in Marseille: they are not vacationers but Ukrainian refugees who, on this boat, have finally found safety, “like in a village”, with 700 others compatriots. The “Mediterranean” usually serves Algeria, for the Corsica Linea. But it is now docked, at the Joliette ferry terminal in Marseille, with its unusual passengers. (Photo by Nicolas Tucat/AFP Photo)

A woman uses a plastic bad to protect her head amid snowfall in Beijing, China on December 14, 2023. (Photo by Tingshu Wang/Reuters)

A man poses as his acquaintance takes pictures on a street in the town of Vyborg, Russia on January 28, 2024. (Photo by Anton Vaganov/Reuters)

People take part in a rally in Jakarta, Indonesia, on March 8, 2024. (Photo by Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana/Reuters)

Fans of American singer Taylor Swift, also known as a Swifties, shelter from the rain as they arrive for Swift's concert in Sydney on February 23, 2024. (Photo by David Gray/AFP Photo)

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)