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
78 / 90
The São Gabriel Tower at dusk
The São Gabriel Tower at dusk
15 · 08 · 2026 · Torre de São Gabriel · Lisbon · Sam Wang
LIFE NOTE

The Gambler

Torre de São Gabriel, a landmark of Parque das Nações, is one of Lisbon’s most distinctive modern residential towers. Its sailing-ship design recalls the glory of Portugal’s Age of Discovery, like a sail heading towards the Tagus.

How many gamblers walk out of the casino next door late at night after losing everything, pass beneath the tower, and tell themselves, “When I get rich one day, I have to buy an apartment here.”

I CHING READINGOpen another reading
I CHING READING · Author’s interpretation
Hexagram 41

Sun · Decrease

Classic text · interpretive translation
A lake beneath the mountain: Decrease. The noble one restrains anger and desire. — Zhou Yi · Sun, Image

Sun allows imagined gain to be separated from what is possessed. After a loss, the tower enters a comeback story; the setback feeds a larger desire.

The building promises no win on the next bet. Reduction can begin by removing reasons to continue, leaving the loss where it happened rather than extending it through a future image.

Reading in briefThe tower promised nothing; desire spoke for it.
MUSIC VIDEO CHOSEN FOR THIS STORY

When the Dream Ends · 梦醒时分

Sarah Chen · 1080p HD

He loses money yet keeps promising himself riches. The song questions someone unwilling to wake; watching him, I also consider what I cannot let go of;

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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.