--- description: Ten years after the “Umbrella Revolution,” five Hong Kongers reflect on their roles after the protests. title: 10 Years Later: Hong Kong’s Umbrella Revolution image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt13301e58e3b42007/698a5bac01168218ad98652d/GettyImages-456359000.jpg?branch=production ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Asia](/tag/asia/) ## Asia Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 10 Years Later: Hong Kong’s Umbrella Revolution by [Man Sum Lai](/author/man-sum-lai/) ## Man Sum Lai Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 30, 2024 6:11 PM CUT  TOPSHOT - A pro-democracy demonstrator gestures after police fired tear gas towards protesters near the Hong Kong government headquarters on September 28, 2014\. Police fired tear gas as tens of thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators brought parts of central Hong Kong to a standstill on September 28, in a dramatic escalation of protests that have gripped the semi-autonomous Chinese city for days. AFP PHOTO / XAUME OLLEROS (Photo by XAUME OLLEROS / AFP) (Photo by XAUME OLLEROS/AFP via Getty Images) TOPSHOT - A pro-democracy demonstrator gestures after police fired tear gas towards protesters near the Hong Kong government headquarters on September 28, 2014\. Police fired tear gas as tens of thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators brought parts of central Hong Kong to a standstill on September 28, in a dramatic escalation of protests that have gripped the semi-autonomous Chinese city for days. AFP PHOTO / XAUME OLLEROS (Photo by XAUME OLLEROS / AFP) (Photo by XAUME OLLEROS/AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty Images by [Man Sum Lai](/author/man-sum-lai/) ## Man Sum Lai Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 30, 2024 6:11 PM CUT In 2014, Hong Kong protesters used umbrellas as a form of passive resistance to the city police’s use of tear gas and pepper spray as they demanded a more transparent election. The protest movement was known as the “Umbrella Revolution.” Ten years later, five Hong Kongers reflect on their roles during the protests, and how their lives have changed after Beijing’s crackdowns. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7026877/10-years-hong-kong-umbrella-revolution/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7026877/10-years-hong-kong-umbrella-revolution/"},"headline":"10 Years Later: Hong Kong’s Umbrella Revolution","datePublished":"2024-09-30T18:11:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T18:22:04.398Z","description":"Ten years after the “Umbrella Revolution,” five Hong Kongers reflect on their roles after the protests.","url":"https://time.com/7026877/10-years-hong-kong-umbrella-revolution/","keywords":["Asia","video","feature"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt13301e58e3b42007/698a5bac01168218ad98652d/GettyImages-456359000.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Man Sum Lai","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/man-sum-lai/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt13301e58e3b42007/698a5bac01168218ad98652d/GettyImages-456359000.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TOPSHOT-HONG KONG-CHINA-POLITICS-DEMOCRACY","caption":"TOPSHOT-HONG KONG-CHINA-POLITICS-DEMOCRACY","creditText":"AFP via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/asia/","name":"Asia"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7026877/10-years-hong-kong-umbrella-revolution/","name":"10 Years Later: Hong Kong’s Umbrella Revolution"}}]}] ```