Protesters have come out on the streets night after night, sleeping on mats and cardboard or setting up tents to make sure authorities do not retake the streets overnight.One man has decided to take it further, bringing a wooden bed complete with sheets and a neatly rolled up duvet. Next to it are tiny Buddha figurines and a small matching bookcase, adorned with a Chinese paperback on economics and the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, among other titles.
A protester told reporters he had bought the furniture from Ikea to make the protest zone homier.One of the strangest scenes in Mong Kok this week was the appearance one night of pingpong and mahjong tables on the occupied streets. Videos and photos showed people entertaining themselves at the games, while others laid out food for a hearty outdoors hotpot dinner. Most of the evidence vanished the next day — apparently after protesters complained that the frivolity showed the pro-democracy movement in a bad light.
Police were quick to seize on the episode to condemn the protesters, and a pro-Beijing newspaper put the photos on its front page. "Illegal occupiers are occupying the roads as their living space and playground," said Kong Man-keung, a police spokesman. "These acts are seriously damaging interests of the residents nearby, and are absolutely unacceptable to the general public."