After weeks of demonstrations that turned the torch relay into a public relations nightmare for Beijing and the Olympics following its crackdown in Tibet, the flame was greeted here with pomp and celebration - and only a minimum of agitation.

 

Police detained a handful of people amid scuffles and scattered protests, but said they were later released.

 

There were no serious incidents, and even the early morning rain held off for the rest of the day.

 

The eight-hour relay came to a close at Hong Kong's Golden Bauhinia Square, site of the 1997 ceremony where Britain formally handed Hong Kong back to China.

 

Earlier, it criss-crossed the city - carried by 120 different people, rowed on traditional dragon boats and even ferried across the city's famed Victoria Harbour, escorted by a fireboat shooting jets of water into the sky.

 

The eight-hour tour through Hong Kong - which has a degree of political freedom absent in the mainland - was seen as the last chance for major demonstrations.

 

But instead the day became a show of Chinese solidarity and patriotism.

 

Tens of thousands of spectators lined streets, piers and riverbanks across the city, most dressed in the red of China and many visiting from the mainland.

 

Windsurfer Lee Lai-shan, Hong Kong's only Olympic gold medallist, had begun the relay, carrying the flame on the homestretch to mainland China.

 

While there were only a few scattered protests, those people who did speak out where often shouted down by the crowd and had to be protected by cordons of police officers.

 

People in the crowd shouted "Go home!" at protesters and even foreigners, amid a backlash following the international criticism of Beijing's Communist rulers following the crackdown in Tibet.

 

"The torch relay day is a day of joy, so I don't think it's a good idea to protest today," said Vivien Lai, a Hong Kong nurse who came with her family and boyfriend to cheer on the torch.

 

While Tibet has been the focus of many demonstrations, critics have also used the relay to take aim at China on a range of issues - even as Beijing has repeatedly insisted the Games should not be "politicised."

 

United States actress-turned-activist Mia Farrow, also in Hong Kong today, used the occasion to press China over its close links with Sudan, whose government has been blamed for failing to stop the bloodshed in its Darfur region.

 

"It isn't a pretty way to say this, but China is underwriting the atrocities in Darfur," said Farrow, who also lashed out at most of the corporate sponsors of the 2008 Games.

 

"History will note their silence," she said.

 

"I'm disgusted."

 

Hong Kong was taken back into China under a policy known as "One Country, Two Systems" which allows unfettered capitalism as well as rights of protest and expression not granted on the mainland.

 

Tomorrow, the torch will be paraded through the gambling haven of Macau before being flown to mainland China for the rest of its journey - including through Tibet - before the August 8 Games Opening Ceremony.