The shiny gold BMW was parking along Beijing's Third Ring Road on Wednesday afternoon. [China.org.cn/Zhang Yunxing]

A shiny gold BMW sedan caught the eye of many onlookers – including traffic police – along Beijing's Third Ring Road on Wednesday afternoon.

"It was so special that you couldn't miss it," said a policeman who was patrolling the area. He said he noticed the car, a 7-series model, not only because of its custom color, but also because it had no license plates and violated parking rules. (Vehicles are not allowed to park along the Third Ring Road's main road.)

A tow truck called by police was just about to tow the car away when the driver appeared. He was fined 200 yuan for illegal parking and another 200 yuan and six points on his license for not displaying his car plates properly.

The driver said he was in a hurry to go to a hospital and declined to be interviewed.