2018+, China

For the little things …
The rough uneven pavers with spring weeds sprouting in the cracks
The painted path between International and Domestic
The travellers asleep in the sun beside it
The lawn they’re allowed to lie on
The modest terminal, its low ceiling
The little bird swooping beneath it
The tip of its beak picking crumbs from the carpet
The Travelex booth
The Indian guy at the counter
His smile, his Indian English
The magazines in the shop
The words in them
The labels on the food
The Indian guy at the counter
His smile, his Indian English
The privilege of my Australian passport
The prepaid SIM, no questions asked
The Maori woman at the counter
Her smile, her sentences, her SIM ejector
The Footrot Flats families waiting to board
Their sun-squint crows feet
Their sprawl, their fat, their cackling laughs
The absence of military police
The boarding pass in English
The walk to the plane through sweet bright air
The sight of distant trees

Found in Yinchuan, China, with the help(?) of Google Translate

Yinchuan double-flying day, we ride by plane
to Zhongwei Quanchuan Q… Shepherd Heads of the
Duo Dui Dedue Airport Yinchuan (big grease 530)
shortage head AL (or-step or so): the main stage
of the saleswear head — Gui Kangguan and the
Dali country of the Leader of the Yangsaw,
the concept of life and the future, the success
of the people of the Yangwan, the success of the
Yangwan, the success of the Yangwan, the first
suspension of the world, the final life of the
people of the river, the life of the gang, the
final and the like, the final achievement of the
dead invasion, the people of the life of the
guardian, the final achievement of the
environment, the final achievements of the
natural sandwich, the oval, the mountains, the
main tourism resources, the real emergence of the
natural sandwood of the environment, the
existence of the tourism resources, the real
emergence of the natural sandwood of the
environment, the existence of the tourism
resources, the real resources of the natural
sandwich, the overalls of the city of the city of
the city of the city of the toll of the city of
the city of the city of the city of the city of
the dawn, the talent, the tower of the city of
the city of the city of the city of the city of
the city of the city of the city of the city of
the city of the city of the city of the city of
the city of the city of the city of
the city of the year of the salads, the existence
of the same time, the city of the city of the
city of the city of the city of the city of the
city of the city of the city of the city of the
city of the city of the city of the city of the
city of the city of the city of the city of the
city of the city of the city of the city of the
city.

The above is a slightly edited Google Translate rendition of the following flyer. It gets across how I feel after two weeks in Yinchuan better than anything I could have written in the usual way. Apologies to anyone who reads Chinese.