07:24 GMT - 'A movement, not a revolution' - Wong Hung, an associate professor of social work at Chinese University has been speaking to the South China Morning Post. Although the term "umbrella revolution" has become a popular slogan in recent days, he's concerned about the second half of that phrase.
A couple take wedding photogtaphs in front of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong on October 1, 2014
"I don't think this should be called a revolution, it's a democratic movement calling for change," he told the newspaper. "The difference between a revolution and movement is the former wants to displace a government and has associations with violence. We don't want to push away the government. We are demanding change including free and fair elections. Even western models of democracy are not perfect. They don't really understand the situation in Hong Kong."
06:48 GMT - Older generations out - For much of the last two days the crowds have been overwhelmingly young. Today, likely because of the public holiday, older Hong Kongers are also out in force.
"We want to fight for our freedom and for everyone to have a vote," said a Mr Leung, 65, who had come down to the protest for the first time with his wife and would only give his last name.
"I wanted to show support for the students. It is for their future," added S Lam, 58.
Another elderly lady with grey hair said: "I wanted to see for myself what is the real situation."
06:18 GMT - Wedding pose - My colleague Agnes Bun reports that a newly married couple have taken advantage of the chance for some once in a lifetime pictures by posing in wedding dress and suit next to some protestors in Tsim Sha Tsui
05:34 GMT - China detaining activists for supporting Hong Kong - A report from our Beijing bureau says authorities have detained a dozen activists across China and threatened several others who expressed support for Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests in recent days, according to the overseas-based advocacy group China Human Rights Defenders (CHRD).
Among those detained include activist Wang Long, who was arrested by police in the southern boomtown of Shenzhen on Monday for "creating a disturbance" after he posted messages about the protests online, CHRD said.
The 25-year-old Wang made headlines last month with his decision to sue a state-owned telecom operator for denying him access to US search engine Google.
Another activist, Shanghai-based Shen Yanqiu, posted online photos of herself with a shaved head in support for the Hong Kong protesters on Sunday, CHRD said. She was detained on Tuesday and is "being held in an unknown location", according to the group.
A group of "up to 20 citizens" were seized by police on Tuesday in the southern metropolis of Guangzhou, near Hong Kong, after gathering in a city park to voice support the pro-democracy camp, according to CHRD.
05:13 GMT - Occupy will spread 'like flowers' - Occupy Central co-founder Chan Kin-man has told reporters it was inevitable the protests would grow if the government maintained its hardline stance.
"We understand why citizens are continuing to expand the occupation, it is because the government is so cold," Chan said, regularly having to stop speaking to compose himself.
"Despite such a large occupation, the government is still using such an attitude, so a lot of people think that the action now is not enough and that flowers must continue to blossom everywhere."
05:09 GMT - Legal advice and free massages - LA Times reporter Julie Makinen has tweeted photos of a couple of nice vignettes in amongst the crowd: chiefly people giving out free massages to weary protesters and others walking around with signs holding an SMS number they can text in the event of arrest.
04:46 GMT - Muted start to 'Golden Week' - The South China Morning Post is reporting that luxury outlet stores in the Central district remain shuttered on what would usually be a bonanza day for them.
The week beginning with National Day is commonly referred to as Golden Week, largely because of the cash flow that comes into Hong Kong with the arrival of wealthy mainlanders obsessed with luxury goods.
"Tiffany and Van Cleef & Arpels were among a handful of stores to remain closed in what is traditionally one of the busiest shopping times of the year," the paper reported today adding that a number of prominent jewellery stores in the busy Causeway Bay shopping district were also closed.
Retails sales in Hong Kong are already down, partially because of China's much publicised anti-corruption drive and its frugality campaign. The ongoing occupation of the city's streets will do little to bring cheer to retailers, it seems.
04:17 GMT - Mood more tense than previous days - Our reporter Annabel Symington has now reached Admiralty where crowds are steadily growing. She estimates around 5,000 are currently gathered at the main protest site.
Generally crowd numbers are smaller in the day but swell massively when the sun goes down. 5,000 is not a bad showing for midday -- but given it's a public holiday more people are able to join the protests in the day.
"The mood is more tense than previous days, with many people referring to the symbolism of protesting on National Day," she reports. "The protestors say that they are committed to remaining peaceful but they are concerned about how the government may react if the numbers continue to grow."
Grace Ng, a 40-year-old protester demonstrating for the first time said people are aware Beijing's poor track record of tolerating dissent.
"We know their history," she said. "We know what China did before so we can expect what they will do next. We have to stand and rise up and show our opinions. We vote by coming here. This is my right. I fight for the right that belongs to me, belongs to everybody."
03:38 GMT - Pro-Beijing celebration - The city authorities have just sent out plans to hold a "National Day Extravaganza" in Victoria Park later today "in celebration of the 65th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China".
It will be interesting to see whether pro-democracy protesters join the celebrations.
The park -- which sees hundreds of thousands gather there each year on the June 4 Tiananmen anniversary -- is close to Causeway Bay, one of the smaller democracy protest locations.
03:21 GMT - 'Don't forget Tiananmen' - Our reporter Jennifer O'Mahony has just sent over a poignant poster she saw protesters put up overnight reminding people not to be complacent.
Ever since riot police withdrew on Monday, the general atmosphere among protesters has been festive, often carnival like.
But the sign reminds people that the students at Tiananmen -- who were brutally suppressed by the People Liberation Army after weeks of sit-ins in Beijing in 1989 -- also began their movement with optimism.
Here is what the sign stated: "During the student protests in 1989, there was a period of time when Tiananmen was just like a carnival and students and citizens were singing and dancing. At that time everyone drew courage from the number of people there and they really believed their struggle would succeed. No one thought what happened would happen.
"Don't forget your original intent. Persevere until the end."
03:15 GMT - Long Hair strikes again - Veteran pro-democracy lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung has struck again.
Known as "Long Hair", he was escorted out of the reception earlier this morning by security for shouting "Hong Kong wants real elections, Leung Chun-ying step down!" just before the Chinese national anthem was played.
Long Hair doesn't actually have flowing locks anymore ever since he was arrested earlier this year and had his head shaved by prison authorities -- though he is growing it back again.
He is renowned both for his long career countering pro-Beijing loyalists in the city's legislative assembly and also for his frequent outbursts and interruptions.
He was one of a number of lawmakers and students who shouted down a senior Chinese official last month during a visit to Hong Kong.
03:02 GMT - Censorship overdrive in China - Our Beijing bureau is reporting how China's sophisticated censorship machine has gone into overdrive following the protests in Hong Kong.
Fearful of comparisons to the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, censors have launched a dual effort to suppress news of swelling pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong while giving a heavy spin to what information it allows to get through.
On the Chinese mainland the story is being spun to match a different narrative -- one in which the demonstrators are "violent", "extreme" and being manipulated by foreign forces.
And in what experts say is a record clampdown on social media, news has adhered strictly to the party line, with the ruling Communist Party's censors working to erase social media postings from protesters in Hong Kong or any criticism -- at home and abroad -- directed at Beijing.
Fu King-wa, assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong's Journalism and Media Studies Centre and founder of the censorship-tracking website Weiboscope, said that the number of posts deleted from the popular microblogging site Weibo by mainland censors since Saturday has hit a record high.
Fu's website -- which tracks a daily sample of 50,000 to 60,000 postings from popular microbloggers -- found that 98 posts per 10,000 were blocked on Saturday, 152 on Sunday at the height of the Hong Kong clashes, and 136 on Monday.
"This is the highest in 2014 -- even higher than June 4 (the Tiananmen Square anniversary), even higher than some of the trials of the human rights lawyers, and also higher than some of the other social movements in China," Fu said, referring to the past year's civil society clampdown under President Xi Jinping.
02:37 GMT - Britain turns up heat, but has weak hand - Our London bureau has filed some analysis looking at how Britain has ratcheted up pressure on China over Hong Kong recently, but has little of the influence it once used to wield.
The Foreign Office on Monday called for "constructive discussions", Prime Minister David Cameron on Tuesday said he was "deeply concerned" by developments and his deputy Nick Clegg announced his intention to summon China's ambassador to express "alarm and dismay".
But diplomatic pressure cannot hide one basic fact: "There is nothing that any country can do, let alone Britain, if they (Beijing) choose to repress their people," Richard Ottoway, the chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the British lower house of parliament, told AFP.
However Athar Hussain, director of the Asian research centre at the London School of Economics, ruled out any violent crackdown by Beijing "in the near future".
"They (China) cannot use excessive force because there are repercussions on China's relationship with the rest of the world, and critically with Taiwan," he argued.
"I think that Britain, European and other western countries expressing their disapproval will, at least from the Beijing side, make them (China) a bit more careful," he said.
02:26 GMT - Beijing needs to find "scope for manoeuvre" - Anson Chan, the last chief secretary before Hong Kong was handed back to China, has given an interview to CNN's Christine Amanpour in which she said that while Beijing is unlikely to give the city full democracy, it will need to show some sort of willingness to compromise.
"I don't suppose realistically it (China) will budge any time soon. But both the chief executive and Beijing have got to show some signs that they are listening to the pleas from the people of Hong Kong," she said.
"It's not only just about giving us a genuine choice in electing the chief executive in 2017. At the end of the day, what most people in Hong Kong are concerned about is whether we can preserve our core values and our lifestyle."
She added that in the first few years post-handover there was no interference in Hong Kong's affairs by Beijing. But in the last seven or eight years -- and particularly since Leung took over -- Beijing's footprint increased significantly.
"The students are not going to remove themselves from the streets unless and until there is some indication of sincerity and willingness to talk about universal suffrage for the election in 2017."
"We are still hoping that both the chief executive and Beijing will hear the people's plea and will be prepared to sit down at the negotiating table and look at the scope for manoeuvre."
01:33 GMT - Support from mainland China - Our reporter Annabel Symington has been on the streets outside the convention centre speaking to demonstrators.
Among the crowds are a number of people who have travelled from mainland China, where the kind of scenes we have seen in Hong Kong this week would be virtually unthinkable.
China strictly controls what its citizens see and read about events in Hong Kong, restricting state media and heavily censoring the web.
But they can do little to stop people like David Zhang, 24, a software engineer from Dongguan, from seeing what is happening first hand.
"I agree that everyone should have the right to elect their government," he said.
"It is a strong message that democracy is not brought by the western world but by the students, the locals."
"The Beijing government are afraid of change and uncertainty. If it happens that the Hong Kong people can elect their government then they have no control."
01:08 GMT - 'Better to have a vote than not' - Hong Kong chief executive Leung Chun-ying has given a short speech on stage defending Beijing's election reform proposals.
"It is understandable that different people may have different ideas about a desirable reform package," he said.
"But it is definitely better to have universal suffrage than not. It is definitely better to cast your vote at the polling station than to stay at home."
To recap, Beijing said last month it intended to allow Hong Kongers to vote for their next leader in 2017 under a "one man, one vote system". But there's a catch.
Only two or three people who have obtained the support of a 1,200 strong pro-Beijing nomination committee will be allowed to stand for election in the first place.
Protesters have dismissed the offer as "fake democracy" and have made two demands: that Leung resign and Beijing rescind its limited democracy offer.
00:58 GMT - 'Apology needed' - Not all those invited to the reception at the exhibition centre are happy with the city authorities.
"I think we have destroyed the values of Hong Kong earlier this weekend by shooting teargas," Paul Zimmerman, a city councillor, told reporters while holding a yellow umbrella and donning a yellow ribbon on his suit "as a sign of protest".
"I think that Leung and the police commissioner owe Hong Kong an apology and nothing less than an apology for what they have done," he added.
When Leung gave his toast on top of the stage, Zimmerman opened up his yellow umbrella. Umbrellas have become a symbol of protest in Hong Kong this week after demonstrators used them to defend themselves against pepper spray. The term "Umbrella Revolution" began trending on social media and has since been adopted with relish by pro-democracy groups.
00:38 GMT - Toasts on stage - Chief executive Leung led hundreds of dignitaries in a toast to the prosperity of Hong Kong and China. He then worked the room, shaking hands with guests and posing for photos as a band played patriotic marching songs.
The authorities are clearly trying to project an image that everything is well in the city and that they are in control.
Except only yards from the exhibition centre there are large crowds of angry demonstrators. And across town major intersections and highways are still being occupied by thousands of people who say they won't leave until Leung resigns.
00:19 GMT - Clinking glasses - Our reporter Aaron Tam inside the exhibition centre says many of Leung's cabinet members are now gathering for a reception in a show of unity and solidarity for the city's beleaguered leader.
"The atmosphere in here is quite festive," he says. "Local politicians, ministers and army personnel here eating and clinking glasses."
Those outsized Chinese flags are back. On stage the PRC flags are noticeably larger than the Hong Kong ones.
Former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa is also present as well as Zhang Xiaoming, China's top official based in Hong Kong.
Tung knows a thing or two about being dogged by protests. In 2003, half a million demonstrators came out onto the streets calling for his resignation after he tried to pass a deeply unpopular security law.
The last two years of his administration was dominated by a crisis of governance and he eventually resigned in 2005.
00:03 GMT - Gathering crowds - Our reporters outside the flag raising ceremony say protesters linked hands to form a buffer in front of police lines near Golden Bauhinia Square. They held up signs saying "stay calm" and "students come in peace".
"We heard that some people want to break through the police line. We don't want that to happen. We don't want to ruin this revolution, this event," said one 23-year-old who identified himself as Mr Law.
Leaders on loudspeakers were also urging calm.
But not everyone in the crowd was happy with that message. "We didn't come here just to stand around we came here to protest!" shouted one.
Protesters booed when the two helicopters -- one carrying a PRC flag and the other a much smaller Hong Kong flag -- flew by.
23:52 GMT - Flag ceremony underway - Hong Kong's chief executive Leung Chun-ying comes out to greet a small crowd of loyalists waving Chinese flags on the outskirts of Golden Bauhinia square.
It's fair to say the loyalists are easily outnumbered by the throngs of protesters outside the ceremony but it does show there are people in the city who are happy with current status quo and remain loyal to Beijing.
Police dressed in crisp white uniforms jointly raise the flags of the PRC and Hong Kong as the Chinese national anthem plays with shouts from pro-democracy demonstrators clearly audible.
Two military helicopters fly past with Chinese and Hong Kong flags underneath. The Hong Kong flag is significantly smaller than the PRC one.
23:38 GMT - Another night of huge demos - A quick recap of what took place overnight. Tens of thousands of people gathered for a third night of huge street protests. They were peaceful and the police maintained a very low presence.
On Sunday, police caused widespread anger -- and encouraged thousands more demonstrators to hit the streets -- when they fired tear gas at crowds that had taken over a key highway running through the city's downtown, opposite the legislative headquarters known locally as LegCo where students had camped out for a week.
On Monday, the riot police were withdrawn, effectively handing demonstrators control of four major areas of the city.
The main protest site continues to be Admiralty, the location of the initial tear gassing, which sees thousands of protesters in the day swell to tens of thousands at night.
The neighbouring district of Central is partially occupied, particularly at night when the crowds spill out from Admiralty.
Smaller protests and street blockages are also taking place in the busy shopping district of Causeway Bay and across the harbour in the densely populated Mongkok district.
23:32 GMT - Flag raising ceremony - The focus for many protesters this morning is a flag raising ceremony in the Wanchai district where a number of senior city officials are expected to attend as part of the National Day celebrations.
Hundreds of demonstrators are already converging on the area, trying to make their way into Golden Bauhinia Square where the ceremony takes place.
The annual ceremony is often targeted by pro-democracy activists. But never has it taken place before against a backdrop of continued street protests and sit-ins by tens of thousands of demonstrators.
23:26 GMT - A new day, new protests - WELCOME TO AFP'S LIVE REPORT on the ongoing pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong where tens of thousands gathered once more overnight and look set to stay on the streets for today's National Day public holiday.
The pro-Beijing city authorities had hoped this day would be one of pomp, ceremony and celebration to mark the 65th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
Instead they are faced with the prospect of thousands of demonstrators noisily using the day to renew their push for genuine democracy in the international financial hub.