White Liquor for the Karakoram Highway

Midday, partly cloudy skies at the Khunjerab Pass. An armed Pakistani guard stiffens, locks eyes with bus driver Ahmed and barks the official question he's probably asked every driver who's ever crossed this remote area on the China-Pakistan border.

"Are you carrying any baijiu?" the guard demands, twitching his thick mustache with a leathery lip and glaring through the open bus door.