Neil Labatt has lived more than one life — once a professional athlete on the ice rink, now a globe-trotting entrepreneur. As a child, digging in the backyard, he told his father, “I’m trying to dig a tunnel to China.”

In 2008, he finally set foot in the country he had imagined for so long. From the energy of Beijing to the modern pulse of Shanghai, and even the fiery hotpot of Sichuan, Labatt discovered the real China for himself.

Looking to the future, he says he remains optimistic about long-term China-Canada relations and believes both countries stand to benefit from deeper cooperation.