No joke; April Fools Day banned in China

China's rigidly controlled state media has apparently failed to see the funny side of April Fools' Day and urged people to shun the tradition In a message posted online, the country's official Xinhua news agency said: "Today is the so-called ‘Fools' Day’ in the West.

"Fools' Day doesn’t consist with our country’s traditional culture, the socialist core values.