# Xinjiang — evidence and design brief

Research date: 2026-10-04. Source map: `xinjiang.png`, visually inspected in full.

## Central direction

Xinjiang is a demanding but valuable test: design a tea-consuming and tea-trading region without inventing tea plantations. The strongest imagery is the relationship between desert distances and the intimacy of a shared hot bowl: compressed tea arrives; hospitality makes it local. Use copper, adobe, lapis glaze, milk-tea color and caravan textiles rather than a borrowed southern-China tea-garden vocabulary.

The user’s tea.travel guide identifies Turpan, Kashgar, Hotan, Ili/Yining and Urumqi. Treat it as editorial route context, then reinforce cultural facts with primary sources. Its “Growing region” category is inconsistent with its own narrative and is not used. Neither “largest consumer” nor “largest bazaar” rankings are carried into artwork. [tea.travel](https://tea.travel/en/region/xinjiang/)

Historical tea-supply policy explicitly names tea produced in Hunan and Hubei for delivery to Xinjiang. This grounds compressed tea, packages and incoming commerce; it does not prove an exact caravan route, shipment date or antique payment system. [State Council record](https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2017-09/15/content_5224711.htm)

## Confirmed tea imagery

- Kashgar: an old-city tea-house meeting place, carved balcony, shared tray, kettle, bowls and naan. Keep the actual tea house visually distinct from nearby religious architecture. [Regional tourism authority](https://wlt.xinjiang.gov.cn/wlt/dzdt/201812/43d0132120204979a29406c058b1f9c3.shtml), [Kashgar government](https://www.kashi.gov.cn/ksdqxzgs/c106707/202402/762f2b49c49340df89aefab050735139.shtml).
- Ili / Kazakh hospitality: portable felt yurt, kettle, milk pitcher, milk tea and baursak. The broad custom is independently documented; a specific named establishment in Ili is not claimed. [Xinjiang customs](https://www.xinjiang.gov.cn/xinjiang/mfms/201912/6c017934e6fa434e9cfb703fb04ba300.shtml).
- Tacheng: a documented courtyard milk-tea house supports a research-added secondary scene beyond the map’s nine city labels. [Agriculture department publication](https://nynct.xinjiang.gov.cn/xjnynct/c113580/202310/e8e4915206b34de5ac4b16e0675450a0.shtml).
- Hotan: herbal-infusion craft, copperwork and carved bowls. Rose petals are a small ingredient cue, never a medical claim and never proof of local Camellia production. [Education department heritage visit](https://jyt.xinjiang.gov.cn/edu/dzdt/202307/99d30c7868fa40bda3cb42e4c6443065.shtml), [Forestry department publication](https://lcj.xinjiang.gov.cn/lcj/mtbd/202604/b19206c3a01649d8aa798685807c544e.shtml).
- Turpan and Urumqi: guide-supported oasis tea/naan and bazaar tea commerce; avoid inventing vendor names or locally grown cultivars. A camel carrying rectangular tea bales is an interpretive symbol of long-distance exchange, not a historical diagram. [Silk Roads UNESCO inventory](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1442/).

## Complete source-map inventory

**Nine cities:** Altay, Karamay, Yining, Urumqi, Turpan, Aksu, Korla, Kashgar, Hotan.

**Thirteen physical names:** Altai Mountains; Junggar Basin; Ili River; Tian Shan; Turpan Depression; Flaming Mountains; Tarim River; Lake Bosten; Lop Nur; Taklamakan Desert; Tarim Basin; Pamirs; Kunlun Mountains.

**Named building:** Apak Hoja Mausoleum. It belongs to the Kashgar scene, not Hotan.

**Outside context labels:** Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Mongolia. Footer: Xinjiang / 新疆. These are inventoried but not required on the cup.

**Every illustrated object family:** snowy Altai ridges; three felt yurts; grazing horses; Junggar river branches; Ili poplar grove and irrigated curved crop rows; continuous Tian Shan mountain barrier; orange/red mesas; Turpan oasis grove, earthen settlement and minaret; Lake Bosten; Lop Nur dry channels; Tarim river with narrow green banks; Taklamakan dunes; Kashgar mosque/old-city group; tiled domed Apak Hoja complex; loaded Bactrian-camel caravan with attendants; second small camel group; palm-like oasis symbols; flying eagle; Pamir and Kunlun ridges; sepia relief edges, parchment and shadow.

The source map’s palm-like plants are stylized. Reinterpret the oasis idea through poplars or grape arbors; do not present tropical palms as botanical research. Likewise, the Kashgar mosque illustration is generic; do not relabel its exact dome silhouette as Id Kah. Irrigated rows at Yining are not tea terraces. Omit parchment, shadow, administrative-outline fill and external country labels.

## Spatial relationships

Altai/Junggar sit north; Ili/Yining northwest; Tian Shan separates northern and southern terrain; Urumqi is north of the main barrier, Turpan farther east/southeast. Kashgar anchors the west, Aksu/Korla the northern Tarim margin, Hotan the south, Kunlun the southern edge and Pamirs southwest. A panorama can bend this arrangement for legibility, but must not claim cartographic precision. [UNESCO Tianshan](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1414/)

## Collection split

C1–C3: predominantly tea — the five guide nodes, plus optional Tacheng; brick tea, serving, cultural variation and trade. Regional landforms are supporting punctuation. C4–C6: a broader regional atlas — tea remains about half the story while the map contributes mountains, dunes, heritage architecture, yurts, horses, eagle and water. Neither group shows plantations.

Use English-only lettering. Hero word: **XINJIANG**. Art direction revised after user feedback: make one connected panorama, varying scale and depth, with natural transparent openings. Do not use isolated subject islands or uniform gaps. Retain all factual research; follow the [current project plan](../PLAN_RU.md) for composition.

Evidence is distinguished throughout this brief: source-map observation, corroborated fact, editorial route context, and artistic interpretation.