CHENGDU, China — The Olympic torch's final parade in homage to victims of China's earthquake was run today after the route was changed amid worries about security in a region where Tibetan protests erupted earlier this year.

The torch was carried through eight miles of an industrial part of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, rather than a more historic section of the city which houses Tibetan communities.

Sichuan, where a powerful magnitude-7.9 quake flattened towns in May, was the last stop for the Olympic flame. The flame arrived in Beijing Tuesday evening, the official Xinhua News Agency reported, where it will stay for Friday's opening ceremony.

The Sichuan segment of the relay had originally been scheduled for mid-June but was postponed to support disaster-relief efforts.

More than 69,000 people were killed and some 5 million were left homeless in the earthquake.

Today's route change was due to safety concerns, according to an official with the Chengdu Public Security Bureau who only gave his surname, Wang, as is common with Chinese officials.

"The city has some of the worst congestion in China. We were worried there would be traffic difficulties and also that the crowds would be too large," Wang said.

China was taking no chances with security after deadly anti-government riots broke out in the Tibetan capital Lhasa in March, protests in neighboring provinces like Sichuan and disruptions by pro-Tibet activists during the torch relay overseas.

Busloads of police officers and troops with riot shields and helmets lined the route today. Security checkpoints were set up for spectators. Near Wuhouci temple in the older section of Chengdu, a road leading to a Tibetan area — including the office of Tibet's government — was heavily guarded by police armed with guns that fire tear gas.

The relay, which like all other stops in Sichuan began with a minute of silence to honor the quake victims, ended without incident. Crowds selected by the local government cheered with gusto and waved Chinese flags and Olympic banners.

On Monday, in a fanfare-filled ceremony that included dancers and bursts of confetti, the Olympic torch was paraded around a stadium that only weeks ago was filled with earthquake survivors.

China has governed Tibet since communist troops marched into the Himalayan region in the 1950s. The Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader who fled to India amid a failed uprising in 1959, has denied seeking independence, saying he wants some form of autonomy that would allow Tibetans to freely practice their culture.

China says 22 people died in Lhasa in March, while foreign Tibet supporters say many times that number were killed during the demonstrations and a subsequent government crackdown.

In Beijing, the International Olympic Committee said members were weighing whether to eliminate international torch relays in the wake of the protests during the Beijing flame's global tour.

Protesters critical of China's human rights record and crackdown in Tibet hounded the flame in London, Paris and San Francisco earlier this year.

IOC president Jacques Rogge said the committee will always retain its tradition of lighting the Olympic flame in Ancient Olympia and starting the torch relay in Greece.

However, he said the IOC may do away with future global relays and limit the flame processions to domestic routes within the Olympic host countries.