Let it be, without forcing it;
English
01
ENGLISH EDITION

Let it be,without forcing it;

Memoirs of a Chinese restaurateur in Portugal, read through life’s changes and the I Ching.

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If you can make ‘creation’ as natural as breathing, it is not because intention is absent; it is because all intention has already dissolved into the breath.
Sam Wang
02 · SERIAL READING

Two parts, twelve moments.

A life told through choices, losses and changes rather than a résumé.

CHAPTER I

Necessity brings change.

From arriving in Lisbon to the Madrid expansion, family, and the pandemic.

CHAPTER II

Change opens the way.

A new digital beginning with XIAOXIONG®.

03 · LIFE NOTES

The city passes.
Memory remains.

Photographs and short texts about Lisbon, restaurants, architecture, and the moments that do not fit inside the chapters.

90 translated notes · English edition
24 / 90
Children reclining inside the circular opening of a black sculpture, an older grey-haired woman at the entrance, with sunlit pines and the river behind
Children reclining inside the circular opening of a black sculpture, an older grey-haired woman at the entrance, with sunlit pines and the river behind
19 · 09 · 2026 · Parque das Nações · Horas de chumbo · Sam Wang
LIFE NOTE

Bunker

“Horas de chumbo” (“Hours of Lead”): two long iron tubes, wide at one end and narrow at the other, a trace left by Expo ’98.

Inside the tube, several children are lying quite comfortably; at the opening, a grandmother is urging them to go home.

“When we were little, we used to hide in piles of wheat straw;”

I CHING READINGOpen another reading
I CHING READING · Author’s interpretation
Hexagram 20

Guan · Contemplation

Classic text · interpretive translation
Contemplating my life: advancing or retreating.

In Guan, advancing or withdrawing can begin with distinct positions: children inhabit playtime, while the adult watches the time to go home. Lingering and hurrying each have reasons.

The memory of straw brings the author closer to the children without explaining everything they feel. Remembering aids understanding; looking again reveals the differences.

Reading in briefMemory brings us closer; observation preserves difference.
MUSIC VIDEO CHOSEN FOR THIS STORY

Childhood · 童年

Lo Ta-yu · 1080p HD

The children in the tube recall the author’s own straw piles. Lo Ta-yu’s “童年” meets the feeling of watching children after growing older: the place has changed, but the joy of not wanting play to end remains familiar.

Quality adapts to your connection. You can select HD in the player settings.Player not working? Open the original video ↗
READER ECHOES

What stays with you here?

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Author 04
RESTAURANTS · ARCHITECTURE · HISTORY · I CHING

Half a lifetime
of notes

Hello, I’m Wang Sanxiong — Sam 🤝

The book’s epigraph is my motto, and the starting point for how I understand life, restaurants, and entrepreneurship.

I am a Chinese immigrant living in Portugal, originally from Qingtian, Zhejiang, and a restaurant owner. I love architecture and the history behind it; I love the I Ching, and use Eastern wisdom to interpret the stories hidden behind history.

A battle for small and medium-sized restaurants to reclaim their own customer channels;
The second half of life should be more exciting than the first — that is only reasonable;

【XIAOXIONG®】

XIAOXIONG®; it is not an advertisement in this book. It is proof that, in the second half of life, I am still willing to change.

FOUNDER OF XIAOXIONGWang Sanxiong · Sam Wang
Read this ongoing practice →Chinese original →