Happy April Fools Day, everyone!

April Fools’ Day or 愚人节 (yú rén jié) is celebrated in different countries around the world on the April 1st of every year. Sometimes referred to as All Fools’ Day, April 1st is not a national holiday, but is widely recognized and celebrated as a day where many people play all kinds of jokes and foolishness.

The day is marked by the commission of good humored or funny jokes, hoaxes, and other practical jokes of varying sophistication on friends, family members, teachers, neighbors, work associates, etc…

Revelers of the pseudo holiday find clever or 聪明  (cōng míng) and ingenious ways to play pranks on those they encounter throughout the day. Some of my favorite pranks include:

1) Wrapping a persons car completely in plastic wrap (good way to keep a roommate from being on time to work).

2) Replacing ice cream bars with bars of soap (the trick is getting the soap cold).

3) And the age-old classic: Messing with the times on clocks to convince people they are late.

If you need some last minute April Fool’s Day tricks, check out this article on 15 last minute April Fools Pranks.