SHIJIAZHUANG, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- A man in north China's Hebei Province has won praise online after a photo was shared of him displaying car plates recovered in floodwater on the roadside to find their owners.

In the picture, dozens of car plates were set up against two bicycles with Wang Zengmin standing beside them like a street vendor.

Wang, from Liushoufen Village of Lianchi District in the city of Baoding, said the heavy rainstorm on Monday morning stopped the engines of many vehicles near Ruixiang Street, and after the rain stopped, he and others helped push multiple vehicles out of the floodwater.

"We recovered some plates out of the floodwater, so I collected and placed them on the roadside during the morning rush hour, expecting drivers to see and pick them up," said Wang, 61.

Local transport authorities said the rainstorm disrupted traffic on seven road sections in the city on Monday morning, including the area near Ruixiang Street.

Hearing about Wang's "car plate stall," nearby villagers who also found car plates came to deliver plates to him, which brought the total number of displayed plates to 30.

By Wednesday morning, six of them had been claimed.

Wang had to close the "stall" during the day as he had to work at a local construction company. "Anyone who has lost the car plate is welcome to find me at home after 6 p.m. when I'm off work," he said.

Wang, who returned the plates free of charge, was honored as a "Chinese good uncle" by netizens.

"That's right! This is your kind, simple and honest uncle from our Baoding City," said one netizen. Another netizen said other people may demand at least 100 yuan (about 14.4 U.S. dollars) per plate from the owners in return.

Wang shrugged off the online compliments.

"Anyone who found stuff of others should return it. There is no reason to accept money," he said. Enditem