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)

Christian pilgrims from Brazil embrace after they are baptized in the water of the Jordan River during a ceremony at the Yardenit baptismal site near the northern Israeli city of Tiberias October 15, 2014. (Photo by Finbarr O'Reilly/Reuters)

A Christian pilgrim prays during her visit to the baptismal site known as Qasr el-Yahud on the banks of the Jordan River near the West Bank city of Jericho April 9, 2015. A day ahead of Orthodox Good Friday, the Easter period draws many Christian tourists to visit well-known religious sites, including Qasr el-Yahud, where it is believed John the Baptist baptised Jesus. (Photo by Amir Cohen/Reuters)

Pilgrims lift up their dresses as they cross the Quema river during the annual El Rocio pilgrimage in Villamanrique, near Sevilla on June 1, 2017. El Rocio pilgrimage is the largest in Spain with hundreds of thousands of devotees wearing traditional outfits converging in a burst of colour as they make their way on horseback and decorated carriages across the Andalusian countryside. (Photo by Cristina Quicler/AFP Photo)

Indian holy men, or Naga Sadhu, ride a motorbike on their way to take a holy dip in the Ganges River during the Kumbh Mela at Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India, 14 April 2021. Thousands of pilgrims gather for the mass Hindu pilgrimage which occurs every twelve years and rotates among four locations. (Photo by Idrees Mohammed/EPA/EFE)

Pilgrims ride their horses on their way to the shrine of El Rocio in Villamanrique, Spain, on Saturday, June 4, 2022, during the annual pilgrimage in which hundreds of thousands of devotees of the Virgin del Rocio converge in and around the shrine. (Photo by Joan Mateu Parra/AP Photo)

Pilgrims rest on June 6, 2019 in Villamanrique, during a pilgrimage to the village of El Rocio. El Rocio pilgrimage, the largest in Spain, gathers hundreds of thousands of devotees in traditional outfits converging in a burst of colour as they make their way on horseback and on board decorated carriages across the Andalusian countryside. (Photo by Cristina Quicler/AFP Photo)

The Virgin of El Rocio is carried by pilgrims during a procession around the shrine of El Rocio in Almonte, southern Spain, May 25, 2015. Every spring hundreds of thousands of devotees converge at a shrine to pay homage to the Virgin del Rocio during an annual pilgrimage which combines religious fervour and festive colour. (Photo by Marcelo del Pozo/Reuters)