"Gau Wu" was originally used during an interview with a Chinese National who participated in a rally known as Sign for Peace and Democracy Movement, expressing her opposition to Occupy Central on 17 August 2014.
Following an interim injunction order executed the day before, a pro-democracy encampment in Mong Kok affiliated with the Umbrella Movement was cleared by the Hong Kong police force.
Immediately after the execution of the court injunction to clear the Mong Kok encampment, pro-democracy protesters assembled there to express discontent over the police clearance operation by pretending to shop.
As the pro-democracy protest continued and expanded from Mong Kok to Tsim Sha Tsui, police increased their presence, demanded people show identification, donned riot gear to some degree, and made more arrests during the process.
[citation needed] Rather than a means of pursuing "genuine universal suffrage", Gau Wu, or the Shopping Revolution, has crossed the line into anti-mainland Chinese citizen sentiment.
[6] Although the Individual Visit Scheme reinvigorated Hong Kong's economy and stimulated local economic growth over the past decade, protesters participating in Gau Wu expressed discontent over the overwhelming number of mainland tourists.
It has sparked a discussion within the government over whether a new phase of the Individual Visit Scheme should be implemented in order to tighten control over the number of mainland tourists coming to Hong Kong.
[7] Gau Wu is often criticised for encouraging discrimination by Hong Kong residents against visiting mainland Chinese citizens who have travelled to shop.
[8] Due to the continuous 'Gau Wu (Shopping Revolution) which opposes Chinese mainland parallel traders, pharmacy, boutique and cosmetic sales have declined.