When we got word of the nine-day trip to China for $1,500 offered through the Temecula Chamber of Commerce, we couldn’t pass it up. The trip offered tours in four cities, all meals and transportation (including to and from LAX and two in-country flights), and lodging in four- and five-star hotels that did live up to their ratings.

Airfare alone would cost about that much if we were to go on our own.

So we put down our deposits and then started to worry. Could a trip this inexpensive really be that good? Could a group tour really measure up to going solo?

When it was all over, we decided that we had made the right decision.

There are tradeoffs, though, when comparing group travel versus solo, but our choice turned out to be the right one for a first-time visit to China. Here’s why:

We had guides for the entire tour. Not only did Alice (Beijing) and David (Shanghai, Suzhou and Hangzhou) provide very good narration as we traveled, they were an instant source of information. Both spoke English very well, and were willing to delve into subjects like politics and religion. As is often the case, they knew more about the United States than we knew about China.

Also, there was never a wait when checking into our hotels. The guides had our room keys to distribute before we arrived. On the other hand, it seemed as if we always waited to board the bus the next morning. I’m not sure why; the bus was always there, but I was usually too busy conversing with another traveler to find out.

Alice and David also were very helpful in explaining the shopping rituals.

Certain places we visited had government-owned stores and bargaining was forbidden. Just about any other place was open for negotiations — neighborhood shops, street vendors, even some of the larger stores. Both guides talked openly about purchasing “knock-offs” like the gazillions of Gucci handbags we saw being peddled everywhere. There also was an abundance of nonofficial Olympics paraphernalia, which is sold openly and right next to official shops. All of the counterfeits contained the five-ring Olympic logo and “Beijing 2008” embroidered or painted on, but none carried the word “Olympics.”

In general, I’m not crazy about riding in tour buses because you give up flexibility of schedule, but the traffic in all of the cities is horrendous. It would be nearly impossible for anyone who isn’t familiar with the streets and the language to navigate. Traffic signs are in both Chinese and English, but they are difficult to decipher, especially if you’re driving.

The other advantage of being a passenger is that there is so much to see as you drive through the cities and countryside. You’d miss it all if you were glued to the wheel and harried.

Traveling with a group (ours numbered 28) does slow the pace and there is some down time when waiting for stragglers, but there was always plenty to take in while waiting. Fortunately, we had no whiners.

Our group jelled, and we had great conversations during meals around the round with the large lazy Susans. However, we heard this wasn’t the case on a couple of other buses. The warning here is that if you aren’t willing to be a bit flexible and don’t have a good sense of humor, don’t go with a group.

I mentioned our ambitious itinerary. The good news is that we saw a lot during our brief stay; the bad news is that we weren’t allowed to linger in places where I’d liked to have lingered (the stunning Summer Palace and grounds near Beijing, and the 1,600-year-old Lingyin Buddhist Temple in Hangzhou). The trip was like taking a survey course; we’ll return to study some of the topics in greater detail.