It is commonly believed that in medieval France, New Year was celebrated on 1 April. Then in 1562, Pope Gregory introduced a new calendar for the Christian world, changing New Year to 1 January. With no modern communications, news travelled slowly and new ideas were often questioned. Many people did not hear of the change, some merely forgot, and others chose to ignore it. These people were called fools. Invitations to non-existent “New Year” parties were sent and other practical jokes were played. Over time playing tricks on 1 April became a tradition. The custom eventually spread to England and Scotland, and it was later transported across the Atlantic to the American colonies (殖民地) of the English and the French. April Fools’ Day has now developed into an international festival of fun, with different nationalities celebrating the day in special ways.

France and Italy

In France and Italy, if someone plays a trick on you, you are the “fish of April”. By the month of April fish have only just hatched and are therefore easy to catch. Children stick paper fish to their Friends’ backs and chocolate fish are found in the shops.

America and Britain

Today, Americans and the British play small tricks on friends and strangers alike on 1 April. A common trick is to point to a friend’s shoe and say “Your shoelace (鞋带) is untied.” When they look down, they are laughed at. Schoolchildren might tell a friend that school has been cancelled. Sometimes the media get involved. Once, a British short film was shown on April Fools’ Day about spaghetti farmers and how they harvest their crop from spaghetti trees!

Scotland

In Scotland, April Fools’ Day lasts for two days! The second day is called “Taily Day” and tricks on this day involve the bottom (or the “tail”, in informal speech). Often a sign saying ‘kick me’ is stuck onto someone’s back without them knowing.

A concert that features Ancient Tang poems is set to hit the US next month to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year and the 50th anniversary of The Philadelphia Orchestra’s historic 1973 tour of China. The program entitled Echoes of Ancient Tang Poems is set to be released on Jan 6 and 7,2023 in Philadelphia and New York. iSING! Suzhou and The Philadelphia Orchestra present the program. The show, led by former Philadelphia Orchestra Assistant Conductor Lio Kuokman, features ancient Chinese lyrical texts(剧本)from young composers who were selected from the 2020 iSING! Composition Competition.

The 2020 iSING! Composition Competition is a five-month-long process of selecting winning composers from more than 200 entries from nine countries. The panel of judges included Hao Jiang Tian, well-known bass(男低音歌手), iSING! founder and artistic director. Founded in 2011, iSING! Art Festival is the first international vocal art festival in China. Since 2014, over 380 singers from more than 30 countries have been selected to come to China to participate in the annual iSING! Suzhou Art Festival. Poets of the Tang Dynasty featured in the incoming program Echoes of Ancient Tang Poems include Li Bai, Bai Juyi, Du Fu, Du Mu, Zhang Ji, and Wang Bo.

“I was initially worried about being able to connect both historically and culturally,” said Fernando Buide del Real in an official press statement. “But I soon realized Tang poetic sentiments(诗意)are universal and go beyond geographical boundaries. During the COVID lockdown, I found resonance(共鸣)in Wang Bo’s poem about friendship, loneliness, and separation. The precision and depth of the Chinese language is amazing. Every character and every phrase is filled with meaning.”

January’s concert also aims to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Philadelphia Orchestra’s 1973 tour of China. Over the past 50 years, the Orchestra has returned to China 12 times, more than any other US orchestra.

“I think this event is very important to China and the US, especially in terms of cultural exchanges,” Hao Jiang Tian said. “During the COVID-19 pandemic, performing arts around the world has been greatly affected and impacted. Our incoming event integrates ancient Tang poems, new forms of music, and singers from 9 different countries—this is the first time in history. In the current situation, such performance is particularly important,” Tian said.

We know the westerners like to plan for their time carefully in order to do all the things that are important to them. So if your American or English friend asks you to dinner, he usually invites you a week ahead. But if you really have no time and can’t go to the dinner, you can ring him to say sorry. The dinner is usually served at home, sometimes at a restaurant. You should get there on time, and don’t forget to put on your fine clothes. It is also a good idea to take some little presents to your friend, such as flowers, chocolates and so on. When you are at dinner, you should also observe (遵守) some other customs. Here I’ll give you some dos and don’ts about them in the following:

1) Don’t leave bones on the table or the floor. (You should put them on your plate with fingers.)

2) Don’t use your bowl to drink soup, but use your spoon to help you instead,

3)   Don’t talk with much food in your mouth.

4)   Don’t ask others to have more wine. (This is quite different from that in China.)

5)   After dinner, use you r napkin (餐巾) to clean your mouth and hands.

6)   Make sure small pieces of food are not left on your face.

Then after dinner, you can stay there a little time. And your friend will be pleased if you leave in half an hour or so. Next day, you had better ring him up to thank him for the good dinner.