Hong Kong residents
"Gau Wu" is often criticised for encouraging discrimination by Hong Kong residents against visiting mainland Chinese citizens who have travelled to shop. This is manifested by Hong Kong residents expressing concerns over the disruption of their local lifestyle. In the face of the escalation of the Shopping protest, a lot of Chinese mainlanders think that they are being singled out, or being discriminated against, by Hong Kong residents. This has created a hostility between Hong Kong citizens and Chinese mainlanders.