China's Phony Papers

Wang Shen is a printer in China's capital, and his business is inking just about any document you want, legitimate or otherwise. But even Wang was taken aback when a man in a baseball cap strolled into his narrow, back-room shop, plonked $80 on the table and asked him to forge a pilot's license. Two days later, it was ready, expertly laminated and adorned with a pair of red seals. "It looked very real," says the 34-year-old printer. "The man came back and told me no one could tell the difference."

Wang now prefers to travel by train:...