01 · 28 · 08 · 2026 · South of the Expo districtPINNED
Performer
The platform outlined in red looks so fragile—like a footnote to walking on thin ice in life.
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ENGLISH EDITION
Let it be,without forcing it;
Memoirs of a Chinese restaurateur in Portugal, read through life’s changes and the I Ching.
HALF A LIFETIME OF NOTES
Let it be,without forcing it;
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
Two parts, twelve moments.
A life told through choices, losses and changes rather than a résumé.
Necessity brings change.
From arriving in Lisbon to the Madrid expansion, family, and the pandemic.
Change opens the way.
A new digital beginning with XIAOXIONG®.
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
02 · 06 · 10 · 2026 · Parque das Nações · Oceanarium
Oceanarium II
“The oceanarium sheds the bustle of the day and returns to quiet;”
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03 · 06 · 10 · 2026 · Parque das Nações · Beside the oceanarium
Little Stream
“In the lower-left corner, the shadow holds up a phone;”
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04 · 06 · 10 · 2026 · Parque das Nações · Lisbon Oceanarium
Oceanarium
“In the distance, two cable cars glide towards the end of the line;”
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05 · 05 · 10 · 2026 · Parque das Nações · Vasco da Gama Shopping Centre
Nightfall
“Beneath the streetlights, a family passes, seen from behind;”
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06 · 05 · 10 · 2026 · Parque das Nações · Tagus riverside
Low Tide II
“The sky, so blue;”
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31 · 08 · 2026 · Parque das Nações · Tagus River · Sam Wang
LIFE NOTE
Mascot
The emblematic statue Gil was the mascot of the 1998 Lisbon World Exposition (Expo ’98).
Its anthropomorphic water-drop design naturally matched the Expo’s theme—‘The Oceans, a Heritage for the Future.’
Twenty-eight years ago, during the Expo’s final week, the whole of Parque das Nações was packed that Saturday night: crowded, joyful, and full of visions of the future.
“Expo was the first impression Lisbon left with me;”
I CHING READINGOpen another reading
Hexagram 24
Classic text · interpretive translationFu · Return
Returning along the path. On the seventh day comes return. It is favourable to have somewhere to go.
Fu offers a mirror for recognising an origin. Gil recalls arriving in Lisbon at twenty-five; memory returns while the neighbourhood lives in another time.
The past provides a reference for distance travelled. Seeking only the old excitement can obscure today’s city; looking again allows memory to develop.
Reading in briefRecognise the origin, then look again at the present.Tomorrow Will Be Better · 明天会更好
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That little water-drop figure still has its arms raised. It brings back the hope people had for tomorrow in 1998;
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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