Olympic relay reaches Great Wall

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The Olympic flame being carried along the wall

China has paraded the Olympic torch along its famous Great Wall, on the eve of the opening of the Beijing Games.

Patriotic crowds lined the wall, waving fans and cheering, while streams of confetti shot into the air as the torch was lit from the Olympic flame.

The torch - which began the final leg of its global relay on Wednesday - is due to pass through suburbs of the nearby Chinese capital.

The flame has crossed five continents on its journey from Olympia, Greece.

The morning mist was thick as the torch was lit, the BBC's James Reynolds in Beijing reports.

Cheers went up from the hundreds of people in yellow and red costumes lining the route.

Along with the confetti, doves and balloons were released.

However, a slogan on the mountains which reads "One world, one dream" could hardly be seen in the mist, our correspondent says.

'Emotional day'

Thursday morning's parade, our correspondent says, is what China always had in mind for the torch relay - a kind of stately procession through some of the world's most famous places.

Of course, the events unfolded in the exact order foretold in the press release The BBC's James Reynolds Reynolds' China: Events foretold In pictures: Torch at Great Wall

It certainly has been a lot easier for the Chinese to control in their own country than it was abroad, he adds.

Pro-Tibetan demonstrators sought to disrupt the procession as much as possible on such stages as London and Paris.

"There have been problems with the torch but now is the time for the party," Weng Chengyu, a 28-year-old student, told Reuters news agency.

"You see all this? This shows how much the Chinese love the Olympics."

Xiaohong Lu, who accompanied the torch relay around the world, said it was a very moving day:

"We have cried so many times, it is very emotional, especially when you see the reaction of the Chinese crowds."

The torch is due to be delivered to the Temple of Earth, another site from China's imperial past, on Thursday.

The Olympic cauldron will be lit on Friday at the opening ceremony of the Games.

One of China's best-known sportsmen, basketball star Yao Ming, carried the torch through Tiananmen Square.

Earlier, four activists from the UK and the US were arrested after unfurling banners close to the Olympic stadium.

The torch has travelled 140,000km (87,000 miles) through six continents since it left Greece on 24 March.

Overseas, the relay was marked by protests over China's human rights record and its policies in Tibet.

On Tuesday, the flame passed through Sichuan province, which was devastated by an earthquake in May.

A minute's silence was held in Guang'an city, honouring almost 70,000 people who were killed in the quake.

The torch had been scheduled to visit Sichuan in mid-June, but the area's relay leg was postponed because of the quake, which left around five million people homeless.

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Away from the torch relay, other concerns remained ahead of the start of the games.

A haze settled over Beijing on Wednesday the city's air quality continuing to be an issue as the Games neared.