A young man's attempt to avoid paying his bus fare by mimicking the sound of a transport card reader failed when the bus driver demanded to see his card, the Modern Express reported today.

The 20-year-old man got on a No.1 bus in Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province, around 11:15 AM on Friday and put his wallet on a terminal, appearing to pay the fare with his transport card, the report said.

In China, many buses have wireless transport card readers to deduct the fare from passengers' cards. Many people don't bother to take the card out of their wallets, or even backpacks, to pay the fare, as the signal is strong enough to penetrate the layers of cloth or leather.

When the terminal "made" a special sound, which indicated that the fare had been paid, the man began moving to the back of the bus, the report said.

However, bus driver Xiong Dashun stopped the man and asked him to show the transport card because he suspected the passenger faked the sound, the report said.

The man insisted that he already paid the fare and demanded an apology, the report said.

A bus company employee Li Bo, who happened to be on the bus, said there was no sign on the terminal when the man's card was "swiped."

The man had to pay in cash, the report said.

A bus ride in Wuhan costs 1.20 yuan.

(Shanghai Daily October 29, 2007)