A MAN climbed onto the roof of a building in Nanshan District on Tuesday and threatened to kill himself if no one purchased him for 500,000 yuan (US$70,423).

The 25-year-old man surnamed Zhang, a native of Huaihua City, Hunan Province, was eventually persuaded to abandon his suicide attempt by his sister at around 6 p.m. and detained by police, after a four-hour standoff on the roof of a ticket office at Window of the World theme park, a Daily Sunshine report said yesterday.

Zhang climbed onto the roof unnoticed at 2 p.m. with a bag and hung a banner which said: "I am single, healthy and not mentally ill. I would like to sell myself for 500,000 yuan and serve the buyer as a reward for the rest of my life. I will kill myself if no one buys me in two days."

Zhang kept stabbing himself in his left arm during the four-hour standoff and claimed he had a bomb in his bag.

He did not give in to persuasion by the police, firefighters and paramedics, who rushed to the scene shortly after he was spotted on the room.

The arrival of his sister at about 5:45 p.m. calmed him, and he finally surrendered.

Police did not find explosives in his bag.His motive is still not known.

(Mu Zi)