Security was tight as the Olympic torch began passing through China’s mainly Muslim Xinjiang region, on a highly sensitive part of its trip to Beijing.
Police were out in force as the flame left People’s Square in the capital, Urumqi, on its run around the city.
The torch will spend three days in the region, which is home to around eight million Muslim Uighur people.
Ties between Chinese authorities and the Uighurs are tense. Officials fear separatists could target the relay.
The relay has been moved forward by a week, in an apparent attempt to avoid unrest. The torch’s visit to another potential hotspot, Tibet’s main city, Lhasa, has also been moved up.
Terror allegations
In Urumqi, very tight security was put in place ahead of the relay.
Police carried out vehicle checks and set up checkpoints in the normally busy city. Firecrackers were banned and many local people asked to stay away, reports said.
People entering People’s Square had to pass through metal detectors while police searched their bags, AFP news agency reported.
The majority of the crowd that gathered in the square were Han Chinese, the agency said.
Many Uighurs resent the large-scale influx of Han Chinese settlers into the resource-rich region.
Some groups are fighting to establish an independent Islamic nation, leading to periodic violence in Xinjiang.
Beijing accuses the groups of links to al-Qaeda and this year claims to have foiled at least two Xinjiang-based plots targeting the Olympic Games.
But human rights groups accuse the Chinese authorities of using the alleged terror links as a way of cracking down on the independence movement.
Voice of Bihar 
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