Organised, determined and idealistic, they pose a major challenge to mainland China as they demand it gives them the freedom to nominate election candidates. China recently announced that it would not go that far.
"The kids took over," said media tycoon Jimmy Lai, a key backer of pro-democratic forces in Hong Kong, tears welling up as he voiced his belief that they would succeed.
"It is very frightening for Beijing, but it is very cheering for us...this is our future," he told Reuters.
The latest show of popular dissent represents one of the biggest threats to Beijing's Communist Party leadership since its bloody 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy student protests in and around Tiananmen Square.
Today's young protesters are the first generation to grow up without direct memories of Tiananmen, an event still marked by an annual candle-lit vigil in Hong Kong.
Last week, students' tightly choreographed, citywide boycott of classes escalated into arrests after the storming of a barricaded public space in the city's Admiralty government quarter at the weekend and culminated in far wider demonstrations and public support.
As thousands of protesters confronted police at barriers to try to reach the students hemmed in at Admiralty, they were met with pepper spray, batons and, later, tear gas, as the unrest spread into the city's glittering Central financial district.
Hundreds of upturned umbrellas - protection against pepper spray but useless against tear gas - lay abandoned as young protesters retreated temporarily.
"Stay safe," warned a twitter message on Sunday night from the Hong Kong Federation of Students, a 60,000-strong union of university students. "This is a long battle."
TEENAGER TAKES A STAND
For 17-year-old Joshua Wong, it has already been a lengthy fight.
Two years ago, with the help of secondary school activists calling themselves Scholarism, he forced the Hong Kong government to shelve plans to introduce a pro-China national education scheme in the city's schools.
At its height, 120,000 people, parents and students alike, converged on government headquarters to push for the change.
"I hope I can have a better future and that I can have the right to choose my future in Hong Kong," Wong told Reuters recently, with a self-belief that belies his bookish looks.
"It is true that we are students, but we are also citizens, so we can use action to change the policy of the government."
Both Scholarism and the federation are using the Internet to spread their message and eschewing the more traditional banner-led marches.
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