The torch snaked through the former Portuguese colony with no sign of any protests as thousands of people waving Chinese flags and dressed in red lined the route, many huddling under umbrellas against the bright sunshine.

It passed many of the huge casinos, such as the giant Venetian complex, the Wynn Macau and the Grand Lisboa, that have seen the southern Chinese territory close to overtaking Las Vegas in terms of gaming revenues.

Among the 120 torchbearers was octogenarian casino magnate Stanley Ho, who held a four-decade gambling monopoly here until Macau freed up gaming laws in 2002.

The torch was also borne past some of the former Portuguese colony's most famous sites and the 500-year-old A-Ma temple.

Heinrich Caciano, from Guangdong province in China, who is studying law in Macau, wore a T-shirt reading 'I love China' in English.

'I want foreigners to know that Chinese people support the Olympics,' the 22-year-old said. 'I have come here because I want to support my country and I love my country.'

The torch was on Friday paraded through neighbouring Hong Kong, where it was greeted with celebrations and few of the protests by pro-Tibet campaigners and human rights activists that had earlier transformed its round-the-world trip into a public relations disaster for Beijing.

It was to head on Saturday evening to the southern Chinese holiday resort of Hainan and its first mainland relay on Sunday.

The torch then winds its way through China - including Tibet - before the August 8 Games opening ceremony in the capital Beijing.

Many of the protests, notably in London and Paris, that disrupted earlier legs were sparked by anger at China's crackdown in Tibet after protests there erupted into violence on March 14.

Tibet's government-in-exile says more than 200 people were killed in the crackdown, which included sealing off the region to foreign reporters, making accounts of bloodshed impossible to verify.

China says 20 people had been killed by Tibetan 'rioters', although state media reported Monday for the first time that police had shot dead a Tibetan pro-independence 'insurgent'.

Organisers in Macau slashed the timing of the relay journey in half to just over three hours on the advice of Olympic officials in Beijing.

About 2,200 police were deployed on Macau's streets for the event and Manuel Silverio, first vice-president of the Macau Olympic Committee, had predicted a smooth and uninterrupted relay.

Two Hong Kong democrats were earlier turned away from the territory, now a special administrative region of China after its 400 years of Portuguese rule ended in 1999, a report said.

Groups wearing pro-China T-shirts could be seen entering Macau late Friday.

Thousands of supporters wearing similar shirts had also thronged Hong Kong to cheer along the torch in a show of Chinese solidarity and patriotism.

Despite the heavy police presence, thousands of people swarmed through the crowd barriers near the start of the relay, forcing the torch convoy to stop briefly before the sea of supporters could be cleared. -- AFP