by David William Hill

The crowd in Admiralty was certainly a few thousand people shy of what it was last weekend, but the numbers were still really impressive. From what I understand, Mong Kok has remained peaceful tonight. There were several speeches, but when the main event speakers, Benny Tai, Alex Chow, Lester Shum, and Joshua Wong took to the stage, the energy of the crowd definitely surged. (I can’t understand the speeches, of course, and have to look up what was said when I get home, although sometimes people around me fill me in a little bit.) South China Morning Post reports that, when asked about any plans to clear the demonstration areas, Chief Secretary Carrie Lam replied, “As soon as possible. But it is not a simple thing and it is not a ripe time now. Even if they do [try to clear the sites], they may not succeed.”

An interview taking place. Many people have been bringing their children to the demonstrations, which suggests, of course, a high level of confidence that the police have no intention of using tear gas again any time soon.

Strings of little yellow umbrellas suspended from a footbridge. Like the paper cranes in Causeway Bay, these are very difficult to photograph.

I've seen this guy every time I go to Admiralty. I've also read a little bit about the guy on a hunger strike. Only tonight did I realize this is that guy. Today is day 9.

This came out blurry, but I wanted to post it anyway. The story, for those who don't know it: "The Wolf" is a nickname given to CY Leung by his critics. At the end of last year, someone hurled one of these dolls toward him at a public event. The doll is sold by Ikea, and when news of the event hit, there was a run on the dolls at Ikea stores in Hong Kong. The stores quickly ran out and had to put up signs saying so, so that people would stop asking. I don't know if they managed to restock.

An artist's rendition of CY Leung. There are countless artist's renditions of CY Leung.

Another one. For those who don't know, 689 refers to the number of votes CY Leung received, out of 1200 electors, to attain the position of Chief Executive.

There are drawings and such everywhere around the demonstrations sites. I happen to like this one.

KFC on Connaught Road Central, in the Admiralty Center building, remained closed for, I think, a week or so after the demonstrations started. I guess they got tired of seeing McDonald's cash in and decided to reopen. But they've still got most of their windows shuttered. Strange, because not one window has been broken throughout the demonstrations.

Further evidence of how Hongkongers have kept the "civil" in civil disobedience. This Audi shop sits right alongside the demonstrations in Admiralty. I'm not sure what the billboard is advertising.

This is the barricade at the bottom of Garden Road, next to the Citibank building. The guard there told me these signs went up this morning. My thoughts: what the demonstrators are seeking is perfectly reasonable. They want the right to nominate candidates for the position of Chief Executive, rather than having Beijing select the candidates from which voters will choose. The demonstrations have resulted from the refusal of the Beijing and HK governments to allow this. The people who are frustrated might consider directing their frustrations at the government for creating the necessity to stage the demonstrations. (Nothing else has worked.) Still, this is further evidence that, despite great support for the demonstrators, not everyone is on their side.

You might have seen aerial footage video of the demonstrations on youtube or elsewhere. This is the little machine that's been shooting that video. People call it a drone, although it seems to me it was only a few years ago we would have called it a remote-control helicopter. It's a little eerie how comfortable everyone is with this thing flying around overhead, filming everything. When I first saw, my initial thought was: How can I take that thing down?

Looking roughly southwest on Connaught Road Central. Tonight they put up screens in several places to project video of the speakers. You can also see, in the bottom right, where a walking lane has been kept open. It's all still surprisingly well organized, given that no one's really in charge.