BEIJING -- The Olympic flame, protected by a special safety lantern, arrived at Beijing Capital International Airport early this morning on a chartered Air China plane.

Flame escort Chen Shengjie holds a latern encasing the Olympic flame, originally lit  in Ancient Olympia, Greece, on board the chartered torch relay plane Airbus A330 on March 31, 2008. [Xinhua]

After a welcoming ceremony at Tian'anmen Square, the exquisitely decorated lantern, containing elements called "Lucky Clouds," will be kept in Beijing for twenty-four hours at the headquarters of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), departing from the Olympic tradition of keeping the flame at city hall.

Two laterns encasing the Olympic flame, originally lit in Ancient Olympia, Greece, flight on board the chartered torch relay plane Airbus A330 on March 31, 2008. [Xinhua]