The Olympic flame arrived in Beijing yesterday to cheering and dancing, a moment of national pride for China but the start of a 130-day journey around the world that looks sure to trigger protests over Tibet.

Security was tight as President Hu Jintao lit a cauldron on a red-carpeted rostrum on Tiananmen Square and then handed the flame to Olympic champion high hurdler Liu Xiang, who ran a symbolic first leg of the torch relay. ?The century-old dream of the Chinese people to host the Olympic Games has been turned into a reality,? said Xi Jinping, Hu?s heir-apparent who is overseeing Olympic preparations. ?The torch relay will pull together the strength of the whole nation in making every effort to stage a unique and well-run Olympic Games and promote national development, social progress and people?s well-being.?

But what was envisioned as a ?Journey of Harmony? that would illustrate unity ahead of the August 8 opening of the Games looks instead like becoming a lightning rod for protests.

At last week?s flame-lighting ceremony in Greece activists unfurled banners condemning China?s rights record, and on the day before, a small group of protesters tried to block the flame?s handover to Beijing officials.

There was no direct mention of the protests yesterday as Xi and Games chief Liu Qi littered their short speeches with the phrase ?peace and friendship?. ?We believe that with the joint efforts of the torch relay cities, and all parties concerned, the Beijing 2008 torch relay ... will achieve full success,? Liu said.

The flame, encased in a lantern, was escorted off a charter plane from Greece yesterday and brought to Tiananmen Square, the focus of democracy protests that were crushed in 1989.

The square was decked out in a red carpet, with rows of ethnic dancers, including Tibetans, and brightly dressed students, workers and other supporters waving pompoms and flags.

The scenes mark a contrast from the mood overseas, where exiled Tibetans and human rights activists have targeted the Olympics since China poured security forces into Tibet and parts of western China to suppress anti-government protests. Some have called for a Games boycott.

China has previously come under close scrutiny over its policy towards Sudan, with which it has close economic ties, and Beijing?s support for Myanmar, whose military rulers staged a bloody crackdown on monk-led protesters last year.

China blames the Dalai Lama for days of protest in Lhasa, that burst into a citywide riot on March 14, and other unrest throughout its ethnic Tibetan regions. China says at least 19 people were killed in Lhasa. The Dalai Lama?s representatives say the death toll is closer to 140.

China says the Dalai Lama is seeking independence for the region Communist troops entered in 1950 and wants to disrupt the Olympics, a charge the Nobel peace laureate ? who has lived in exile in India since a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule ? denies. Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang on Thursday made clear China?s opposition to any protests surrounding the torch relay. ?We condemn these shameful acts which violate the spirit of the Olympics and the common aspirations of people worldwide,? he told a news conference.