Just call it the Fake Leap Forward . In a satirical `` Communist rally '' aimed at mainland Chinese shoppers , about 100 Hong Kongers marched through the city on Sunday wearing Maoist costumes , yelling `` love your country , buy Chinese products ! '' Others held posters of Mao Zedong , branded with the mock-patriotic slogan `` Chinese people should drink Chinese milk '' -- a dig at the throngs of mainland shoppers who enter Hong Kong to buy its infant formula , which is viewed as safer than Chinese infant formula . Filled with apparent glee , protesters mockingly bellowed the Chinese national anthem off-key , and thrust Mao 's `` Little Red Book '' into the air . At times , the `` parody protest '' became rowdy , with police wrestling several protesters to the ground as they attempted to break through police barriers . VIDEO : Satrical communist rally in Hong Kong . `` We 're here to protect our freedom '' Protest organizers insisted the rally was meant in good fun . `` My goal with this rally was to show my patriotism , '' said organizer Barry Ma with a slight smirk . `` You can figure out our meaning . '' Other protesters were more direct . `` We 're here to protect our laws and our freedom , '' said a man surnamed Kang , in his 40s . `` We do n't want Hong Kong to turn into another Chinese city . '' READ MORE : Hong Kong journalists protest censorship , Beijing influence . Paladin Cheng , 31 , said there were `` cultural differences '' between Hong Kongers and mainlanders . `` Mainlanders cut in line , spit on the streets . We Hong Kongers really ca n't accept that . '' Yet there were signs that not everyone understood the protest . Though many onlookers were smiling or laughing , some pedestrians were confused , thinking that the protesters were actual Communist supporters . `` I thought they were real , '' gasped one onlooker to his companion . Western tourists appeared the most bewildered . `` I have no idea what 's going on , '' a British visitor told CNN , even as the marchers surrounded him . Later , a few online commenters remarked that the protesters made Hong Kong look bad . `` They succeeded in nothing but making a mockery of themselves . One keeps wondering how low Hongkongers can go , '' wrote user `` bolshoi '' on the South China Morning Post . Rising tensions . Tensions between mainland Chinese and Hong Kongers have steadily increased in recent years , as more Chinese nationals flood into the former British colony to buy everything from food items to apartment buildings . READ MORE : Hong Kong protests take aim at 'locust ' shoppers from mainland China . Last month , a group of protesters rallied in Hong Kong 's Tsim Sha Tsui shopping district , hurling racial slurs at mainlanders and scuffling with police . Though only 7 million people live in Hong Kong , the city now hosts over 50 million visitors a year , largely from China -- a number that is set to double in the next decade , according to Hong Kong 's Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development , Gregory So . But while some fear China 's increasing presence , Hong Kong has also benefited from its mainland ties . According to So , tourism makes up 4.5 % of Hong Kong 's economy , and has `` contributed a lot in creating job opportunities . ''
One CNN march through the city wearing satirical Chinese costumes . Protesters to mainland visitors : It 's more 'patriotic ' if you stay home . `` We do n't want Hong Kong 's to turn into another Maoist city , '' says protester .