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
13 / 90
A white sailboat on the Tagus at dusk, with the bridge and the illuminated Christ the King statue in the distance.
A white sailboat on the Tagus at dusk, with the bridge and the illuminated Christ the King statue in the distance.
28 · 09 · 2026 · Belém · Tagus River · Sam Wang
LIFE NOTE

Sailboat

Evening in Belém, evening on the Tagus; a white sailboat glides slowly past me, the Portuguese flag at its stern catching the wind, leaving a faint wake that gradually fades.

In the distance, the bridge spans the river, and the Christ the King statue on the opposite bank is lit. Another white sail looks small in the dusk.

“The Tagus at dusk is so serene;”

I CHING READINGOpen another reading
I CHING READING · Author’s interpretation
Hexagram 59

Huan · Dispersion

Classic text · interpretive translation
Boats and oars make passage possible where there was none, reaching far for the benefit of all; their image is drawn from Huan. — Zhou Yi · Xici, Part Two

In its account of boats and oars, the Xici draws on Huan: water separates the banks, and a boat makes passage possible. Read this way, the river is both scenery and a distance being crossed.

The author sees serenity while the boat keeps moving. Sail meets wind, hull meets water; a steady posture involves continuing adjustments. The wake gradually disappears, but the journey has taken place.

Reading in briefThe wake fades; the boat has travelled that stretch.
MUSIC VIDEO CHOSEN FOR THIS STORY

Sailing

Rod Stewart

The spacious melody of “Sailing” accompanies the sail in the evening light. The song carries distance and longing; here it leaves room for the river and the boat.

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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 →