Yang Cheng Tong


Yang Cheng Tong, is a contactless rechargeable stored value smartcard designed for paying the travel fares in the metro, buses, taxis and ferries in Guangzhou, China and most other cities in Guangdong Province, with the exception of Shenzhen. It was developed and managed by Guangzhou Yang Cheng Tong Limited, bus companies in Guangzhou and the Guangzhou Metro.
The card is accepted by selected stores, parks, restaurants, parking meters, and in other establishments as payment. With the card holder's personal information stored in the Yang Cheng Tong, further functions can be applied, such as access control of buildings and roll call in school. The system was successfully launched on 30 December 2001. According to official statistics from its operator, there are over 5 million cards in circulation and 2.2 million transactions per day.
Yang Cheng Tong literally means Ram City Pass, since the Five Rams statue is one of the important landmarks in Guangzhou.

Type of cards

There are different types of the Yang Cheng Tong card:
Compared to other contactless smartcards in use, the data transmission of Yang Cheng Tong is criticized by commuters that it takes 1~2 seconds between the card and reader to complete the transaction, though the operator claims that the data communication only takes 0.5 seconds in its official site.
An issue with the Yang Cheng Tong card is, however, that the system seems to be very old in terms of IT systems. It was first used in the late nineties of the twentieth century. That is why the card does not support fare integration with other modes of transport, e.g. when a trip is made with multiple interchanges between bus and metro, passengers will have to pay at each point of transfer from one to another mode of transport.