Guangzhou Yang Cheng Tong Card

Chinese Name: 羊城通 (yáng chéng tōng)
Full Name: Guangzhou Yang Cheng Tong Smart Card

Yang Cheng Tong, literally "Ram City Pass", is a multi-functional electronic medium of payment. It is actually an electronic card that can be reloaded an unlimited number of times and can be widely used for public transportation, communication and commerce in Guangzhou. With it, users can enjoy some discounts on all public transportation systems. Since its application Dec. 30, 2001, Yang Cheng Tong’s total circulation has topped 16 million. At present, it is used on average 5.9 million times per day. 

 Advantages of Payment by Yang Cheng Tong
1. It is a substitute for cash and reduces the demand for paper and coin currency.
2. It takes about 0.3 second to complete a transaction and requires no change. It adopts a non-contact electronic payment method, which is beneficial for everyone’s health.
3. It helps to increase the efficiency of funds management and eradicates the economic loss by counterfeit and worn currency. At the same time, it simplifies the manual fee collection procedure, and decreases the costs.
4. It adopts the most advanced key management system, having high security and reliability.

 Usage: The payment is deducted automatically from the card when a user places either side of the card on the inductive zone of the card reader. There will be a confirm beep after the transaction has been completed. Being a smart card, it can be sensed even through plastics or leather of a few centimeters thick. In other words, users may make a payment without removing the card from wallet, purse, or handbag.

 Categories 
 Ordinary Card: Everyone, including travelers from other countries, can apply for an ordinary Yang Cheng Tong card without any identification or registration. It sells for CNY80 per card with a deposit of CNY30. Passengers enjoy a 60% discount on Guangzhou's public transport system after using the card 15 times.

 Student Card: Students of primary, middle, and secondary vocational schools in Guangzhou can apply for a student card. They will need to provide a complete and authentic application form stamped by the administration of the student's school, a recent photo of themselves 48mm×33mm in size, with background and no hat, together with a deposit of CNY30. Students can enjoy a 50% discount on Guangzhou's public transport system with their student card.

 Adult Card: Especially offered for senior adults over 60 years of age, this card is handled monthly by the local street offices according to data provided by the Guangzhou Municipal Committee on Aging. With the card, adults between 60 and 65 can enjoy a 50% discount on public transport system, and adults over 65 can travel free on any public transport in the city.

 Memorial Card: It is issued in limited numbers to commemorate some great event such as the memorial card for the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games. It contains no deposit and can’t be recharged or returned.

Along with the continuous extension of its application, Yang Cheng Tong has more and more categories such as enterprise card, joint card and membership card.

 Applicability: The card can be used on city buses, buses to Foshan, Jiangmen, Huizhou, Zhaoqing, and Shanwei, ferries, subways, taxis, and some areas of communication and commercial services. In September 2004, Guangzhou University opened Yang Cheng Tong’s one-card-pass function for buses, stores, cafeterias, hospital, library, and access to the university's internet network. In recent years, it has been widely used for parking lots, entrance tickets at the Guangzhou Zoo and Guangzhou Art Museum, McDonald's, some supermarket areas, convenience stores, vegetable markets, cinemas, cake houses and a few other consumer areas. Thanks to its advanced management function, it is also used for attendance and check-in at some enterprises and for access control property management systems of some residential quarters.

 Card Reloading: Users can reload the card by using cash at the Yang Cheng Tong convenience stations/pavilions and some convenience stores, laundries, and drug stores. They can also reload the card through the automatic recharging machines set up at the subway stations, banks, parking lots, McDonald's, and public places, with rechargeable card or bank card.

 Card Returning: Only Yang Cheng Tong Cards containing a deposit can be returned, and the processing methods are as follows:
1. If the balance on the card is more than CNY150, a 10% handling charge will be deducted.
2. If the data in the card can be checked on the spot, the card returning procedure can be done immediately, but if the data can’t be verified immediately, the refund can be collected in 7 working days with the receipt once further verification has been completed.
3. If the card has not been damage by the user, the deposit of CNY30 will be refunded in full.
4. If there is user damage to the card, such as holes, cuts, breaks, or scribbles, CNY 20 will be deducted.

 Card Changing: If the card malfunctions and it has not been damaged by the user, the Yang Cheng Tong Cards containing a deposit can be exchanged for free. Those not carrying a deposit (except for memorial cards, joint cards and membership cards) but used for less than a year can be exchanged for designated non-deposit cards by the Guangzhou Yang Cheng Tong Limited Company once only. If the card malfunctions and there has been damage to it by the user, the Yang Cheng Tong Cards containing a deposit can be exchanged by paying CNY20 for the cost of the card. Those without a deposit (except for memorial cards, joint cards and membership cards) and used for less than a year cannot be exchanged, but the balances in the card can be transferred to another Yang Cheng Tong card.

 Balance Transferring and Checking: Except for joint cards and membership cards, the balances in all of the Yang Cheng Tong cards can be transferred to another card. The specific processing methods are as follows:
1.If the balance on the card that malfunctions can be read, the transfer can be done on the spot.
2.If the balance on the card with malfunctions can’t be read, users can take the registration receipt for the balance transference to an automatic recharging machine after 7 days.
3. The usage records of the Yang Cheng Tong card in the month will be transferred to the new card as well. 

The balance and the most recent 12 transactions of all readable Yang Cheng Tong cards can be checked at customer service centers or through an automatic recharging machine.

 Customer Service Centers: These are set up for the convenience of the Yang Cheng Tong card users in different parts of the city. They accept various issues relevant to Yang Cheng Tong cards, including card reloading, returning and exchanging, balance transference and checking, and emergency maintenance.

Notes for Use 
1. If a card hasn’t been used for more than one year, users must go to a customer service center and go through the formalities for repeat use.
2. All of the Yang Cheng Tong Cards are issued without any registration, so there is no report of loss service provided.
3. Don’t show two cards to the card reader machine simultaneously, or each card will be deducted.
4. To maintain its function, please don’t glue, break, or cut it, and do not put it close to items with high temperatures or magnetism.
5. Never soak it in any kind of liquid.
6. The balance of the card will be shown on the reader machine for a short time whenever a transaction is made.
7. The card cannot be overdrawn.
8. Users have to reload at least CNY50 or multiples of CNY50 once. Due to possibility of loss, the highest recharge value is CNY1, 000.