Women take a selfie with a giant dragon lantern decorated near the frozen Houhai Lake in Beijing, Thursday, February 8, 2024. (Photo by Andy Wong/AP Photo)

Pausing for a selfie as plum blossoms burst into bloom in Dujiangyan City, in southwest China’s Sichuan province on February 20, 2024. (Photo by Splash News and Pictures)

Newly-wed couples attend their group wedding ceremony which was held as part of the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in the northern city of Harbin, Heilongjiang province January 6, 2016. As many as 15 couples attend this mass wedding ceremony. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

A girl types on a computer as she demonstrates the interior of the new Volvo S90 during the Auto China 2016 auto show in Beijing April 25, 2016. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

Fishermen catch fish at Mao'er lake at the start of winter fishing season which is a local custom to welcome the new year on December 29, 2018 in Huaian, Jiangsu Province of China. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

Chinese soldiers leave after Chinese President Xi Jinping inspected troops of People's Liberation Army (PLA) Hong Kong Garrison at the Shek Kong Barracks in Hong Kong, Friday, June 30, 2017. Xi landed in Hong Kong Thursday to mark the 20th anniversary of Beijing taking control of the former British colony, accompanied by a formidable layer of security as authorities showed little patience for pro-democracy protests. (Photo by Kin Cheung/AP Photo)

A Tibetan mastiff dog is displayed for sale at a mastiff show in Baoding, Hebei province, south of Beijing on March 9, 2013. Fetching prices up to around 750,000 USD, mastiffs have become a prized status-symbol amongst China's wealthy, with rich buyers across the country sending prices skyrocketing. Owners say the mastiffs, descendents of dogs used for hunting by nomadic tribes in central Asia and Tibet are fiercely loyal and protective. Breeders still travel to the Himalayan plateau to collect young puppies, although many are unable to adjust to the low altitudes and die during the journey. (Photo by Ed Jones/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)