This was January 24, 2022 - a time when China was not welcoming foreign visitors and its citizens had to adhere to some of the strictest COVID-19 restrictions in the world.

It was also preparing to stage a Winter Olympics within a bubble - or "closed loop" as Chinese officials described it - with the aim of holding one of the world’s biggest sporting events without exacerbating the spread of coronavirus.

Cut off from the outside world with stony-faced security guards ensuring no one escapes the confines of their hotel unless transported by bus to another sealed-off facility, it felt like I was in some sort of Olympic Games prison.

Pictures of Beijing adorned the walls of the Main Media Centre to show what the capital had to offer but you could not see in person which felt like a punishment as you instead found yourself queuing up every morning to have your daily COVID-19 test.

This four-week spell behind the Beijing 2022 fences was my first appearance of China - and when I left the city on February 22 of that year, I was determined to ensure that it would not be my last.

Fast forward 19 months, I was lucky enough to find myself back in China - and this time there were no hazmat suits in sight.

Instead, there were dozens of volunteers free from masks and beaming from ear to ear as they enthusiastically greeted visitors from across Asia and the globe to a bustling Hangzhou International Airport ready to put on a show.

"Now there is no COVID," declared an excited Yang Ruifan, a Chinese volunteer who worked diligently to ensure myself and my colleague Owen Lloyd were put on the correct bus to our accommodation.

Hangzhou, like many other cities in China, was hit hard by COVID-19 and the harsh approach adopted by Xi Jinping’s Government to keep the virus at bay.

At one stage at the end of last year, Zhejiang province which features Hangzhou as its largest city was experiencing around a million COVID-19 cases a day.

Jia Xiaowen, a local reporter for the Zhejiang Daily Press Group, told insidethegames how difficult the pandemic was for the province.

"At the time when COVID broke out, people were working from home but as a journalist I went out and interviewed people to know how they were living their lives," said Jia.

"There were many moving stories.

"Although the city was vacant at the times, people were able to live their life and do their work."

Hangzhou was all set to host the Asian Games in September 2022 - dates that organisers were preparing for since it was awarded the hosting rights in 2015.

But a decision was taken in May last year to postpone the Games due to concerns over the COVID-19 situation in China.

It was a call which the OCA admitted was "one of the hardest" it had ever had to make but was "absolutely convinced that it was the right decision to make at the time".

There is no doubt that this was a hammer blow to Hangzhou 2022 which had confirmed one month prior to this announcement that all 56 competition venues for the Games had been completed.

Like the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics which were held in 2021, the name and emblem of Hangzhou 2022 remained unchanged despite taking place in 2023.

It has been a long journey that finally ended on September 23 when fans packed into the 80,000-capacity Hangzhou Olympic Center Stadium to see a fantastic Opening Ceremony.

There was no crackle of fireworks which are usually prominent in any curtain-raiser to a multi-sport event, but there was a digital light show that wowed spectators and a giant digital Torchbearer that lit the Cauldron on a magical evening.

OCA Acting President Randhir Singh used his speech to salute organisers for their "diligence" and "determination" to put on the Games in the face of COVID-19 disruption.

For Hangzhou to stage a multi-sport event, which features more athletes and more sports than the Olympics, takes a monumental effort, but they have delivered with incredible efficiency and showcased state-of-the-art venues.

Over the past two weeks, I have managed to visit many of those including the Shaoxing Keqiao Yangshan Sport Climbing Centre.

What was once an abandoned quarry has become an arena designed in the shape of a giant silkworm cocoon and purpose built to hold sport climbing events.

The 56 venues, including 12 that have been created for the Games, have been hailed as Olympic standard and it is hard to argue against that.

But how much did all this cost?

How did a city finance the biggest Asian Games on record with 12,500 athletes and 40-strong sports programme?

According to a report by state owned China Daily in February 2022, the total investment for the construction of competition and training venues for the event was around CNY¥10.19 billion (£1.15 billion/$1.4 billion/€1.3 billion) with CNY¥7.16 billion (£813 million/$995 million/€938 million) injected into facilities in Hangzhou and the rest going to those outside the city.

But it has also been reported by Reuters that spending by the Hangzhou Government had exceeded CNY¥200 billion (£22.7 billion/$28 billion/€26 billion) in a five-year period through 2020 on areas including venues, accommodation and transport infrastructure.

Hangzhou 2022 organisers continue to refuse to disclose the figure whenever quizzed on how much public money was used.

"The budget has not been published yet and please be patient for the final results," said Xu Deping, chief spokesperson for Hangzhou 2022.

But why the wait?

Judging by the size and quality of the sporting infrastructure, it is clear that a massive amount of money has been spent to make it possible and "build Hangzhou into a city of sports".

Hangzhou officials believe it "lays the foundation" for future major sporting events to be held and announced its intent a few days ago with the signing of agreements with the International Federations of hockey, badminton and canoeing.

After shutting itself off from the rest of the world, China - a country heavily criticised for its treatment of Uyghur Muslims - is back staging mega sporting competition again and Hangzhou is determined to get a large slice of the action.

With artificial intelligence, driverless vehicles, stadiums that light up in different colours and even robot dogs, Hangzhou has taken the Asian Games into the digital world and put on a sci-fi spectacle for technology lovers and sports enthusiasts to enjoy.