SAN FRANCISCO -- As the Olympic torch has travelled to San Francisco, the city is extending its arms to embrace the flame with pride, emotions and courage.

Chinese ambassador to US Zhou Wenchong (L) holds the lantern encasing Beijing Olympic Flame in San Francisco, April 8, 2008. [Xinhua]

With the world looking on to the sixth leg of the torch relay around the world, the flame, a symbol of Olympic unity, received VIP treatment as it arrived in San Francisco early Tuesday morning.

"We treated it like a head of state visit," airport spokesman Mike McCaron said.

Despite heightened security in the face of any possible disruptions by Tibetan separatists and anti-China groups, the city puts on an atmosphere of peace and harmony, particularly along the relay route decorated with Olympic flags.

The city has mobilized its resources to ensure the success of the torch relay. Mayor Garvin Newsom has vowed to host a safe torch ceremony.

The San Francisco Police Department, along with the mayor's staff and some other departments, "has been working continuously with local, state, and federal agencies to ensure the safety of the Beijing torch run participants and the spectators," Newsom told Xinhua.

"The Olympic torch represents the journey for excellence, and we are honored to have the opportunity to host and contribute to the Beijing Olympic Journey of Harmony," said the mayor.

Boasting landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge, the Fishermen's Wharf, the Transamerican Building and the famous Victorian houses, San Francisco is widely seen as an ideal backdrop for the torch run.

The Olympic torch route will begin at 1 p.m. Wednesday at McCovey Cove behind AT&T Park, travel up The Embarcadero to Aquatic Park and after coming down Bay Street, backtracking until it ends in Justin Herman Plaza where a grand celebration will bring the event to a climax.

The city has mapped out a grand ceremony for the relay, naming 40 torchbearers out of 535 candidates across North America. They will join 40 others in the torch relay.

Just the thought of carrying a torch that holds the flame is an emotional experience for the torch bearers.

"I was in shock. It brought tears to my eyes because it is such a big honor," said Lisa Hartmayer, a 29-year-old registered nurse from San Francisco, who was skiing in Colorado when she received a telephone call notifying her that she had been selected to help carry the torch through the city.

None of the torchbearers interviewed by the media expressed concern for their safety.

"I'm not fearful at all," declared Hartmayer, who plans to carry the torch, despite security concerns arising from protests. "I have faith in the peace officers and I'm not concerned at all, I really am not. I never really thought about it, maybe I'm a little bit too trusting."

Hartmeyer is not alone. Many of those chosen to carry the Beijing-bound Olympic flame through the city said they welcome the torch.

Another torchbearer Todd Hallenbeck brushed aside fears about the protests.

"It doesn't change how I feel about the honor of bearing the torch," said Hallenbeck, 25, with the Pacific States Marine Fishing Commission.

Former Olympian Marilyn King said, "It's sad for me as an Olympian I believe strongly in the Olympic movement and what Pierre de Cubertin said that the purpose is to educate youth to create a better and more peaceful world."

She said if she had fears, that was not for herself but for what it means for a symbol she reveres.

Former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown told a press conference on Tuesday that since the majority of San Francisco citizens welcomed the torch, there was no reason to worry about the success of the relay.

In response to a question raised by Xinhua about what he should do if protesters tried to grab the torch from him, Brown said he was not worried about such a possible scenario because he expected San Francisco citizens, as peace-loving people, not to resort to such an act.

For the Asian communities, the extraordinary event carries greater significance. Many in the Chinese American community see the Olympic Games as a celebration of dramatic transformation of China.

China bore the image of "the sick man of Asia" for most of the 19th and 20th centuries, said David Lee, head of the Chinese American Voters Education Committee, a nonprofit civic education and research organization, and a political science instructor at San Francisco State University.

"Many Chinese Americans feel a great sense of pride that San Francisco has been chosen for the torch relay," Lee said. "And for those of us in the community who have long been anticipating the torch as a (symbol of) China's emergence as a superpower, the protests are an unwanted distraction."

"There are folks who are coming to support the torch relay from across the U.S. and around the world," said community activist Henry Der. "Chinese Americans are taking great pride that Chinese folks are going to pull off the Olympics - that huge event. That's why there is an ethnic pride, and it is not nationalism."

To give the Olympic flame a spectacular reception, tens of thousands of Chinese Americans will line the relay route to show their support, said Siu Yuen Chung, Chairman of the Chinese American Association of Commerce (CAAC).

For the special event, the CAAC has distributed 10,000 T-shirts imprinted with the Olympic symbol to people across the city, Chung told Xinhua, adding that the T-shirts are in short supply as so many supporters want to wear them.

The CAAC, in cooperation with almost 200 Chinese American associations, will also organize a show of Taichi boxing by hundreds of people at Justin Herman Plaza where the relay route will end.

While anxiously expecting the torch relay, many San Francisco citizens expressed dismay at attempts to link the Olympic Games with politics.

Shirley Olivo, a 75-year-old San Francisco native and grandmother of a special Olympian, said carrying the torch and the Olympics shouldn't really be about politics.

"We understand your rights of free speech, by all means, but be a gracious host, be sensitive to the fact that in San Francisco one-third of your inhabitants are Asians," said attorney Edward Liu.

He said he opposed attempts to "politicize this game", saying, "to use this torch relay as a platform to bash China to me is unacceptable."