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
36 / 90
At night, the Expo lights, the computer desktop and the author's reflection holding a phone overlap reflected in the glass
At night, the Expo lights, the computer desktop and the author's reflection holding a phone overlap reflected in the glass
13 · 09 · 2026 · Parque das Nações · office · Sam Wang
LIFE NOTE

The Observer

Night in Parque das Nações; outside the window is the illuminated Expo, inside is the computer desktop, and reflected in the glass is the person holding the phone.

By day, we look at the city; at night, the city also looks back at us through the glass. “Then; who is the observer, and who is being observed?”

“Outside is the Expo at night; inside is my weekend self.” 🥃

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

Contemplation

Classic text · interpretive translation
I contemplate my life: advance or retreat. — Zhou Yi · Guān, line 3

Guan turns observation towards the observer. The glass overlays city, desk and phone: the camera points outward, but someone has chosen its position.

The photograph records a city and a selection. What remains outside and why the camera was raised then are not fully visible; acknowledging that makes the record more honest.

Reading in briefA record also contains the recorder’s choices.
MUSIC VIDEO CHOSEN FOR THIS STORY

Man in the Mirror

Michael Jackson

I record the city and see myself at work. Man in the Mirror takes the question further: changing what surrounds me also starts with the person in the glass;

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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 →