Revolution might be a strong word but it is an appropriate term to describe the sense of national pride expressed by the locals thronging Hainan's roads, for whom holding the Olympics is a celebration of China's emergence as a major global force.

The Olympic torch relay will likely mark the most significant mobilisation of Chinese youth for some 40 years and similar scenes are expected along the relay route.

Flag-waving students described the sense of dignity that will flow from holding the world's biggest global sporting event - symbolic of national renewal after the humiliations suffered during the past two centuries, when a once-powerful empire was carved up by foreign aggressors and slid into backwardness and poverty.

For the mainland's citizens, August 8 represents the overturning of the old global order: the day when China finally takes its position at the top table and its people can hold their heads high.

The outrage that greeted the pro-Tibetan protests in London and Paris - and widely regarded by mainlanders as anti-Chinese - reflected the anger of a people who saw the international respect deservedly earned by holding the Olympic Games slapped back in their face.

China remains a country that craves foreign confirmation of its development and position in the global pecking order. Combine that residual insecurity with a growing sense of self-belief and national entitlement and you have a potentially volatile mix.

Yet Western fears of widespread nationalism in the general populace are exaggerated. Students cheering the torch in Sanya were keen to dispel what they said were misplaced negative views on China, but they were less angry than disappointed and puzzled that foreigners should deliberately rain on their parade.

Of course, Beijing's grip over the mass media and tight control over public discourse leaves little room for Olympic doubters at home, where supporting the Games is regarded as a national duty.

Villagers from the island's predominantly poor and rural population, many of whom rose at dawn to ensure a prime spot but failed to catch a glimpse of the 'holy flame', may have grumbled but their faith in the project remained undiminished.

Farmers from central Hainan, with little to gain from an Olympics being held more than 2,000km away, said without hesitation they were all supportive of the Games.

To a large extent the public's overwhelmingly positive view of the Games is the product of state engineering, which has used a combination of patriotic education, media propaganda and commercial hype to drum up mass support.

But that does not change the fact the cheering crowds in Hainan and Guangdong were genuinely excited about holding the Olympics and proud of their country for doing so.

In Haikou, Hainan's provincial capital, authorities estimated that one million residents joined in the day's celebrations - well over half the city's population. Inmates at a Beijing prison watching the live broadcast also got into the carnival spirit, reportedly staging their own replica relay around their cells.

Even the internationally maligned minders of the Olympic flame - described as 'thugs' after the violent protests in London - were barely visible as the torch entered its final leg of its tour of Hainan accompanied by a crowd of runners.

For those Westerners brought up to poke fun at displays of mass emotion and public patriotism, mainlanders' unbridled enthusiasm for the Beijing Olympics and the near veneration of the 'holy flame' is hard to believe.

Perhaps it will be easier to fathom when China basks in the glory of topping this year's medal table: new research at Britain's Sheffield Hallam University forecasts that the intensity of home support in Beijing will boost China's performance by seven gold medals, taking their tally to an unbeatable 46 and toppling the United States as the leading Olympic nation.

The tumultuous international leg of the torch relay was a public relations disaster both for Beijing and for the sponsors that have forked out up to US$80 million each to grab a slice of the global exposure guaranteed by the biggest show on earth.

At home, however, Beijing has played its cards masterfully: the domestic relay is a triumph and the people are happy.

Mass celebration

The estimated number of Haikou residents who joined in the Olympic torch relay celebrations: 1m