BEIJING (AFP) - - The Olympic torch began its final leg in the heart of Beijing on Wednesday, with genuine excitement among the city's millions replacing the controversy that often surrounded its global journey.

Thousands of people waving Chinese flags gathered in historic Tiananmen Square in an event that was broadcast on national television and showcased national fervour for the Games, now just two days away.

Astronaut hero Yang Liwei was the first to carry the flame, followed minutes later by basketball icon Yao Ming, who was mobbed by enthusiastic fans under the portrait of Mao Zedong, founder of Communist China.

By the end of the day's four-hour relay, 433 people were to have taken the torch through the streets of the capital, including 29 foreigners, the Beijing Times said.

The final stages in Beijing mark an end to the most ambitious and controversial torch relay in Olympic history, after protests dogged its global journey and the domestic leg was overshadowed by the Sichuan earthquake.

But for many Chinese the torch relay, and in particular its final moments in Beijing, were a time for celebration.

"I feel very excited and very proud because the Olympic Games is a 100-year dream of China's. I'm very happy to see the torch relay," said Jiang Rong, a 60-year-old Beijinger at Tiananmen with 30 colleagues to watch the torch.

"We've had 30 years of reform and opening up. I hope foreigners will understand China," he said.

Even as the majority of the city's 17 million carried on their daily lives, they found it hard to conceal their pride.

"I feel excited and proud because it's the first time China will hold the Olympics, and China has been looking forward to it for a long time," said Ge Yanzeng, a 24-year-old on his way to work at a downtown company.

"Amid the aspirations and well-wishes of the people of the entire city, it will complete its harmonious journey welcoming the grand opening of the Games," Beijing mayor Guo Jinlong said at a ceremony in Tiananmen to start the leg.

The choice of Yang Liwei and Yao Ming in the first group of torch-bearers was highly symbolic of China's newfound place in the world.

Yang was China's first man in space in 2003, while Yao, a bona fide NBA star, has made it to the global sports elite like few other Chinese athletes.

But the more than 400 other torch-bearers seemed picked to reflect the breadth of China's recent achievements in fields as far apart as culture, sports and science.

Acclaimed film director Zhang Yimou, who is orchestrating the much anticipated Olympic opening ceremony, was number 86, jogging down the street sporting a relaxed smile and his trademark crew cut.

Torch-bearers also included senior International Olypic Committee executive board member Kevan Gosper from Australia, and Lang Lang, a Chinese piano virtuoso famous far beyond the borders of China.

The youngest on the list, 14-year-old high school student Ren Yi, was the fourth person to carry the torch through the streets of Beijing.

"I will only run a few metres, but the experience will remain with me throughout my life," she told the China Daily newspaper.

The 130-day relay crossed 19 countries before returning to China for a three-month tour that included a historic ascent of Mount Everest, in what Chinese authorities had hoped would be a celebration of the nation's global rise.

However overseas activists seeking to pressure China over human rights and other sensitive issues staged protests in Paris, London, San Francisco and Asian cities, deeply angering the Chinese government.

In China, the torch relay was briefly suspended and the route was altered after the May 12 earthquake in Sichuan province, which left nearly 88,000 people dead or missing.