I asserted in another thread, before it got locked, that I communicated using putonghua outside of Beijing just fine. Someone called B.S. so here are a couple of questions.

If I didn't use putonghua (which is the only dialect I can speak) how did I communicate? I certainly didn't use English.

To those of you who learned Chinese in Beijing (or anywhere really but I speak with a Beijing accent) and have travelled extensively were you able to communicate in putonghua with the locals of the area in China you were in?

Last but not least would you consider the idea that speaking putonghua in Shanghai is impossible?

I myself have been to most of the Chinese provinces including the west and south (my wife is from Hubei) and have been able to use putonghua to communicate everywhere I've been. They understand me a little easier than I can understand them but I've never had to ask someone to repeat themselves in putonghua more than a couple of times.