One of the most isolated stops along the Silk Road is Bhutan.
Until the last few decades, it's been closed to foreigners and obviously also closed to foreign business.
While the country measures its success by gross national happiness, Bhutan is hoping to turn its unique assets into future economic growth.
Sarah Sidner takes us there.
This is one of the only places on earth referred to as Shangri-la,
the fictional earthly paradise depicted in the novel Lost Horizon.
The Kingdom's culture and celebrations have been intact for centuries.
And its environment and the government's mandate to keep its people happy [do] have a mystical quality.
But the reality is Bhutan, the last of the Himalayan kingdoms is a developing nation in the midst of a struggle to find the path to prosperity for its people.
Bhutan is not Shangri-la. The truth is Bhutan is a poor, developing country that is still significantly dependant on the support and the goodwill of the international community.
For centuries, Bhutan cut itself off from the outside world.
There were no roads until the '60s, no foreign tourists allowed until the '70s and no television until 1999.
But there is a significant shift going on here in the 21st century.
Bhutan is now opening up to business beyond its borders, but the leadership refuses to do business at the expense of its unique environment
and demands that businesses in and out of the country are in line with its unique policy of gross national happiness.
American entrepreneur Daniel Spitzer is a pioneer here. He's the first to gain permission for a 100-percent foreign direct investment venture in Bhutan.
Did people say you were crazy to do this in a place that is quite mysterious to the outside world?
For sure. All of my friends who are private equity investors or investment bankers -- and those people who've known me for years,
even when I built companies in China in fairly remote places -- thought, Bhutan... Daniel has lost it this time.
But actually, people who have come and visited have always been delighted and surprised by what they've seen.
But Spitzer and his team have worked for six years to finally land what they think will be a lucrative business: growing and exporting hazelnuts.
How can hazelnuts bring happiness and prosperity to Bhutan and the investors? Spitzer and his team say they've got it all worked out.
They're training farmers in isolated villages in eastern Bhutan to cultivate farmland that was sitting idle and unfit for other crops.
Many of the farmers taking on the project had never heard of hazelnuts. There isn't even a name for them in Bhutan.
But the chance to make a profit instead of living hand-to-mouth has attracted many farmers, such as Karma Tenzin.
I was worried because this is a new crop that they are introducing, the new crop that I'm going to grow.
But based on their technical plantation and their advices, I'm pretty sure that this crop will be helpful to us.
And because the hazelnut trees can grow on steep ridges, their roots can prevent erosion and landslides.
The project has become so popular, the government says it will eventually employ about 15 percent of the entire population.
In fact this would benefit about 10,000 households, mainly in the eastern part of this country.
And together they should be able to produce something like three percent of the world's hazelnut demand.
The government's largest amount of revenue actually comes from a foreign investment deal.
More than 60 percent of Bhutan's GDP depends on the selling of electricity to India. There are no traditional power plants, though.
Here the electricity is generated by eco-friendly hydropower.
Government leaders say other major opportunities for foreign investment are in areas such as education and tourism.
Three international luxury hotel chains have been operating here for some time now.
In Bhutan, doing business is not easy,
but those who do say the rewards and fascinating nature of the country will soon find [their] way into the hearts and minds of entrepreneurs looking for a unique challenge.