A Shanghai man who protested a 50-yuan traffic ($7.61) ticket by paying for it in small change is instead counting his days in detention.

The man, surnamed Li, was handed a 5-day stint in police detention on charges of impeding law enforcement.  

He was also fined an additional 200 yuan ($30), Xinmin Evening News reported Saturday.

Li was cited by traffic police for running a red light on his electric scooter Wednesday afternoon, officers told the paper.

When officers issued him the on-the-spot cash fine, Li said he needed to go find an ATM to withdraw money.

An hour later, Li returned to the scene with 500 1-jiao coins in his pockets, which he threw to the ground and stated "take it, here is the money," police said.

Li then squatted down and began arranging the coins into 1-yuan stacks as a crowd began to collect in the street.

Li was taken into custody to prevent the blocking of traffic, officers said. 

Li later said that he deliberately exchanged the coins in an attempt to humiliate the traffic officers.

A similar case occurred in March 2015, except officers had come prepared.

A man who paid for a parking ticket with coins in Huangshi, Hubei Province,  had was left rankled when officers produced a coin-counting device that helped settle the fine in 3 minutes.

"This is not unusual," said the officer, "so I always keep the machine with me, just in case."

Xinmin Evening News