Mastering the mountains of northeastern China (Photo by Jeremy Spiro-Winn. All rights reserved)

Yes. Don't even bother asking, because I'll just tell you straight off the bat: yes, that is indeed the photographer's shadow, wreathed by a rainbow that seems to have been made just for him. And I'll tell you more, too: it's for real. No cropping, no pasting, nothing. What you see before you is how it went down, in real life, without the aid of computers. Dig?

I know, I know, it seems preposterous. I wouldn't believe it either, if I didn't know the man myself. In addition to being fun at parties, having a fantastic beard and possessing an insatiable urge for all things travel, it turns out Jeremy Spiro-Winn is also quite good at capturing the more transcendent moments of traveling in China. After moving to the deep cold of northeastern province Jilin (Jílín, 吉林) in 2009, he has since spent time in Shanghai, and currently works for CCTV and resides in Beijing. (More after the jump... )But before moving on from the winter wonderland that is Jilin, he made sure to trek around, scratch his itch for nature and capture some unbelievably surreal images. This particularly unbelievable shot was taken at the peak of Changbai Mountain (Chǎngbái Shān, 长白山), a volcanic mountain along the border with North Korea. After a long, exhilarating hike that included a stop at Heavenly Lake (Tiān Chí, 天池), he arrived at the top, only to find the clouds literally parting before him and a rainbow emerging in their wake.

Hats off to Jeremy Spiro-Winn for capturing this triumphant moment. If you want to see more, head over to his gallery on Imgur, where you'll find the visual record of a well traveled, talented photographer.

For more great images of China you can also check out our own Ctrip China Travel Flickr photostream, as featured on the Ctrip Community Page, a new social platform that brings together all the best China travel deals, travel tips and more!

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