Greens politician Margarete Bause received the 57-year-old artist in Munich, where he arrived on Thursday.

It was a "really good" feeling to be able to travel again, he told reporters.

Ai said last week that Germany had granted him a four-year multiple entry visa after his passport was returned to him.

He is expected to travel to the capital Berlin where his six-year-old son, and the mother of his child live.

Since 2011, Chinese authorities withheld his passport after he was arrested during a crackdown on dissidents and activists.

The artist was released on bail following 81 days in detention, though the period expired the following year in 2012. He was not charged with any crime.

However, his company Fake Cultural Development Ltd. was accused of tax evasion and later ordered to pay $2.4 million (2.2 million euros) in back taxes and fines.

Ai denied the accusations and filed an appeal, adding that the incident was a penalty for speaking out against the government.

Restricted access

Ahead of a major retrospective of his work at the Royal Academy in London slated for September, Ai Weiwei complained that British authorities had restricted his visa to 20 days instead of providing him with a six-month business visa, which he requested.

Maya Wang, a Human Rights Watch researcher on China, criticized the UK's decision, saying it was "a gesture of either capitulation to Beijing or inexcusable ignorance," as Chinese President Xi Jinping will be visiting the country on an official state visit in October.

"To deny comparable access to a peace critic of Chinese autocracy and repression, and to do so on the basis of flawed Chinese judicial procedures, is inexcusable," Wang said in a statement.

Ai noted on his Instagram account that he held "further restrictions" with British officials in order to clarify any misunderstandings. The officials reportedly referenced "news about Ai's secret detention by Chinese authorities in 2011 and the tax case for Fake Design."

"This decision is a denial of Ai Weiwei's rights as an ordinary citizen, and a stand by Britain to take the position of those who caused sufferings for human rights defenders," the artist said.

The artist's retrospective is expected to last until December 13.

Ai's son has resided in the German capital Berlin for 11 months.

ls/kms (AFP, AP, Reuters, dpa)