Why did thousands of Chinese protesters gather in tiananmen Square in 1989

The Chinese were protesting the Communist dictatorship. I assume they wanted a democratic government where the people had the right to vote. The protest was successfully suppressed by the Chinese government.

Events leading up to the Tiananmen protests. From April 1989 people from across China gathered in Beijing's Tiananmen Square to mourn the death of the liberal Communist Party leader Hu Yaobang and share their frustrations about the slow pace of promised reform.