Let it be, without forcing it;
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
80 / 90
The façade of the Church of São Sebastião da Pedreira
The façade of the Church of São Sebastião da Pedreira
12 · 08 · 2026 · São Sebastião da Pedreira · Lisbon · Sam Wang
LIFE NOTE

The Church

The Church of São Sebastião da Pedreira dates from the seventeenth century. Built in 1652 during the reign of King João IV of Portugal, it was dedicated to the Christian martyr Saint Sebastian.

The church is near the El Corte Inglés department store.

“Every building deserves to be recorded.”

I CHING READINGOpen another reading
I CHING READING · Author’s interpretation
Hexagram 32

Heng · Duration

Classic text · interpretive translation
Thunder and wind: Duration. The noble one stands firm without changing direction. — Zhou Yi · Heng, Image

Heng’s duration appears in the building’s recognisable presence. Name and date connect a passing visit to longer history; reaching the present also entails use and care over time.

Recording is a form of preservation that always selects. One partial observation can be completed by others; long memory is made through many limited records.

Reading in briefEach record is limited; together, they preserve origins.
MUSIC VIDEO CHOSEN FOR THIS STORY

The Story of Time · 光阴的故事

FOLK 2022 ensemble · 1080p HD

Recording an old building also marks my years in Lisbon. The song reminds me that the city’s history is long, and my years pass through it too;

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READER ECHOES

What stays with you here?

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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.