My thoughts on it:

While I have never traveled to China alone I would not be afraid of doing so despite speaking only a couple dozen words and with an accent so atrocious it's about 50/50 whether I'll be understood. My wife will echo my words--exactly the same to my ears but they understand her but not me.

The way to function is about the same as any other place where you don't have the language--have where you want to go written down (pointing to a location in a guide book would also work if they show it in the local language) and communicate by pointing and writing. (They use our number system--you can haggle on a piece of paper.)