# Heilongjiang: inventory and research for seven collections

Researched on 4 October 2026. This is an artistic brief, not evidence of an already completed generation. The map is a visual source; its captions and geographical placement are not automatically accepted as verified facts.

## Inventory of the source map

Mohe: wooden houses, radio mast, coniferous taiga and northern lights; Greater/Lesser Khingan Mountains; Oroqen hunter, deer and man by the fire; Zhalong Wetland and cranes; Qiqihar; Songnen Plain; Daqing; Wudalianchi: volcanic bowls/lakes; Harbin: St. Sophia Cathedral and historic street; Harbin Ice and Snow World: ice palace; Songhua River, steam locomotive; Heihe on the Amur River with a pier; Yichun, Amur tiger; Sanjiang Plain/Wheat Fields, Hegang, Jiamusi; Ussuri River; Mudanjiang, Jingpo Lake with waterfall; Wanda Mountains; Suifenhe; trade tea table, samovars and cargo crates with the caption Great Tea Road Northern Terminus. The last caption is an artistic hypothesis of the map, not a confirmed route term here. Neighboring countries, border outline and map text are not copied.

## Verified tea contexts and limitations

**Confirmed:** Harbin is a market for tea from southern regions: the official Pingli administration describes a tea presentation and the participation of local tea trading platforms (S2). Modern forest tea/beverage culture is presented in an official provincial report about a forest products store: forest berries, birch sap, and new drinks (S3). This is not evidence of Camellia sinensis cultivation in the taiga. The historical Russian architecture and railway context of the museum are confirmed by the regional cultural administration (S4).

**Author's scenes:** the samovar, brewing teapot, glasses, and tea table are taken from the map as a cultural visual motif; we do not tie them to a fictional “samovar museum,” a specific origin of the object, or a claim that Russian-Chinese tea was born exactly here. The trading table, modern tea tasting, and thermos at the forest lodge are illustrative scenes, not documented addresses.

**Excluded:** the exact course "tile = sable", a geographically exceptional northern terminus, an unconfirmed route through Heihe, medical/shamanic recipes with rhododendron. The artwork has no tea plantings, tea leaf pickers in the snow, or mixing of forest berries with tea leaves. Near the berry drink in C1–C3 an explicit caption BERRY INFUSION is allowed.

## Sources

- **S1** — [tea.travel — Heilongjiang](https://tea.travel/en/region/heilongjiang/). Route text read; historical details without confirmation are not used.
- **S2** — [Pingli Administration: tea presentation in Harbin](https://www.pingli.gov.cn/Content-1148579.html). Primary administrative material on trade and tea venues; also lists a separate non-traditional herbal drink.
- **S3** — [Heilongjiang Government: forest products and beverages](https://www.hlj.gov.cn/hlj/c107856/202409/c00_31767827.shtml). Modern context of forest berries and beverages, without asserting tea plantations.
- **S4** — [Culture Administration: Heilongjiang Museum](https://wlt.hlj.gov.cn/wlt/c114195/202011/c00_31051876.shtml). Verifiable urban, architectural and railway context.

## Seven compositional solutions

- **C1 — Tea constellation:** Samovar and tea shop connect the urban and forest worlds in two colors.
- **C2 — Big Letters — Tea Worlds:** The long title is turned into a lively tea street; the main scale is on the samovar and the vendor.
- **C3 — Tea territories:** The path from a tea counter through a railway stop to a forest tea gathering.
- **C4 — Illustrated atlas:** Two poles of the atlas: Harbin and the Mohe house; between them nature and the train.
- **C5 — Parade of Landmarks:** A friendly procession of samovar, train, tiger, and crane with an outlined title.
- **C6 — Travel lines:** The S-line of the river and railway carries movement between tea scenes.
- **C7 — Based on real mugs:** Nine large outline episodes, including real tea trade and a separate berry drink.

## General parameters

English only. C7 contains only the main title; C1–C3 allow short verified captions. Native RGBA 3840 × 1280, significant elements in x60–3780/y110–1170; final central export 3840 × 1152, 250 × 75 mm. No mockup, opaque background or fixed empty space ratio. Regional palette: #23465F, #BC4551, #6D99AF, #7E8C71, #C5A45B. C1 uses the first two inks, C2–C3 all five, C4–C7 the first three. The reference defines the manner, not the transfer of Guangdong subjects.