Hong Kong students gathered in the heart of the city for a second day on Wednesday ahead of a planned blockade of government buildings if the city's leader fails to discuss their demands for free elections.
About 300 university students protested in a park flanking government headquarters near the Central financial district where they sat listening to lectures in the middle of a weeklong class boycott.
Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997 with a high degree of autonomy and freedoms not enjoyed on the mainland under a formula known as "one country, two systems."