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In China’s heavily censored media, a symbol of Hong Kong’s democracy protests — the umbrella — made an occasional appearance on Tuesday, leaving the impression that some people were watching and offering a subtle comment on developments in the city.

The protests have been dubbed the Umbrella Revolution for the use by protesters of often brightly colored umbrellas to ward off sun, rain and sometimes pepper spray used by the police.

The English version of Caixin Online, a Beijing magazine, ran a series of four photographs called simply “Big Umbrella” and captioned, “Unseasonably early snowfall in Jilin Province covers city of Changchun.” Here’s one:

Hmmm… Caixin Online reports ‘Big Umbrella’ – early snow in Jilin. //t.co/F6wY1nsdPp — HK Hemlock (@HKBigLychee) 30 Sep 14

And this image of President Xi Jinping and other officials holding more sober-looking, black umbrellas, which is stamped as being from Sina Weibo, on Tuesday. Mr. Xi’s trouser legs were rolled up in a practical gesture against the rain: