Chinese is much more sensitive to pronunciation than most languages. A speak a tiny bit--but it's as likely as not that I won't be understood. My wife tells me what I should be saying and what I am saying and I can't hear the difference, but they sure can.

That being said, I would have no qualms about going to any tourist place in China with nothing but a dictionary. Going off the beaten track is another matter, if I were going some such place alone I would be looking for an interpreter.