Not in recent memory has there been so much controversy surrounding the Olympic torch.

Protests in London, Paris and other cities have hampered the international Olympic torch relay for weeks. Demonstrators have shouted their dismay at China's crackdown on Tibet.

In many cases, they have tried to block passage of the gleaming symbol of the games. Skirmishes have ensued in many places the torch was passed.

That may be ending now that the symbol has crossed into mainland China. Cheering Chinese greeted the Olympic torch as it reached the tropical island of Hainan Sunday, the first stop in the three-month mainland journey to Beijing.

"Being Chinese, it's not easy," said Zhang Chaoyang, CEO of the Internet portal Sohu.com, at a news conference after the relay started. He criticized the Western media's coverage of China and the international part of the relay.

Were reporters and the cameras supposed to ignore all the protests against China's policies and its treatment of Tibetans?

"Foreigners don't understand China," said torchbearer Fu Shenfeng. "They still think we're stuck in the past. They still think we're poor. This is our chance to show them the real China."

Let it be so.