Tom Carter spent two years traveling across China and shows the country in an unfiltered manner in his book "China: Portrait of a People."

Tom Carter found himself penniless, jobless and homeless when he left San Francisco to take up a job in China that he found on Craigslist. The job turned out to be a scam and Carter had nowhere to go. So he took up a teaching job in a remote area of China, which was far from what he had come to the country to do.

Two years later, the author had saved enough to take up a two-year journey, exploring every nook and corner of China. Carter describes himself as a simple backpacker who wanted to see everything the country had to offer. He says he was open to all experience and couldn't wait to see what China had in store for him.

Now married to a Chinese lady and the father of a new born baby, Carter spoke to Reuters about his experiences and how he came up with the idea of compiling them into a book.

Carter came to China in 2004 and stayed for four straight years without going home for even a single visit. Then he moved to Japan in 2008 for a change of atmosphere. After he saved up enough, he spent the whole of 2009 in India and then returned to China, which he now calls home.

Carter's photos of China in his recent novel show heavy contrasts. The author says his experience was like seeing a child grow - except in fast forward. He reveals that it is a bit "shameless" that the Chinese government is trying to erase generations of culture in order to catch up with countries like America in the game of power.

As much as Carter was spell bound with India's cultures and religions, he says that when he compares the country to China, he can say from experience that China is generations ahead of India and India poses no competition to China.

So what fascinated Carter about photography?

The photographer reveals that he uses the camera as way of introduction into the lives of people that he otherwise would never have known existed. He says his book is different from those that are generally available in China that are usually "glossy and photo shopped."

Carter now sees himself as a citizen of the world and says America has very little to offer him at the moment. Hence, he's returned to his hometown only once in the past eight years.