Chinese people still use TCM?

[hbuchtel]

I'm living in Guangzhou and have heard that people here (I mean locals, not recent arrivals) use Chinese medicine (esp. herbal medicine) more then any other part of China.

I certainly see liang cha (凉茶, a cooling tea made from mushrooms) stores everywhere, and it seems that even young people will first go to the TCM hospital if they are sick. The TCM Hospitals I have seen seem also to be well funded and have good locations.

How about other cities/regions?

Why would cantonese use TCM more then other regions of China? Being closer to Hong Kong then Beijing, perhaps?

[studentyoung]

Dear Sir,

I am a Cantonese girl and living in Guangzhou too. I think maybe I can answer your question slightly. First of all, please excuse me, I don’t think（凉茶）can be defined as “a cooling tea made from mushrooms”. As far as I know (from the books on traditional Chinese medicine I read), “凉茶”, i.e. herbal tea, is boiled from all kinds of herbals. Chinese medicine is one of the quintessence of Chinese culture and “Using Chinese medicine or herbal medicine” is one of Chinese people’s traditional habits, because people here believe in it, which has its practical and clinical history more than 2 thousand years. （我是个广东女孩，也在广州住。我想兴许我可以稍稍解答一下你的问题。首先，请见谅，我不认为凉茶的定义是“用蘑菇熬的冷却的茶”。据我所知（从我读的中医方面的书中知道的），凉茶就是药汤，是用各种草药熬制而成的。中医是中国文化精髓之一，“看中医，用中药”是中国人的传统习惯之一。因为这儿的人们信任这种有2千多年临床实践的医药文化。）

even young people will first go to the TCM hospital if they are sick.

That is perhaps because when they were still little children, they were brought to TCM hospital only. You see, in the old days, the doctors majored in Western medicine were so rare and usually the diagnostic fee was too high. So common people would rather like to go to TCM hospitals where could offer much cheaper but just effective medical service. （这可能是因为从小他们的父母就只带他们到中医医院就诊。过去，学西医的医生很少，诊金往往又很贵。所以一般老百姓都情愿去收费低廉但确实有效的中医医院看病。）

The TCM Hospitals I have seen seem also to be well funded

You see, there is still some deficiency in it, especially in diagnostic of disease. The four basic ways of diagnoses in TCM are watching, smelling, asking and pulse taking. But all of them seem a bit simply and unreliable, what’s more, sometimes are too subjective, at present time. So in order to improve the accuracy and objective of diagnoses, some modern supplementary diagnostic equipments must be used. (你知道吗，中医本身还是有一些缺陷的，尤其是在诊断法上。中医里四种主要的诊断方法是：望、闻、问、切。但这些方法在现在来说显得有点简单和不那么可靠了，而且有时候太主观。为了提高诊断的准确性和客观性，医院里就必须使用一些现代的辅助性的诊断设备。)

Why would cantonese use TCM more then other regions of China? Being closer to Hong Kong then Beijing, perhaps?

Oh, excuse me, why do you think that Cantonese use TCM more than people in other regions? （抱歉，为什么你会认为在看中医和用中药面广东人比外地人多?）

Thanks so much for your concer on TCM!

[quanxie]

I agree that as far as TCM usage in China is concerned, Guangdong is the place to be... After living in two other provinces and witnessing the wholesale sell-out to western medicine, I am glad to have moved to Guangdong...

Studentyoung is right about 凉茶... It is made from many different blends of herbs...

I disagree that there is deficiency in TCM diagnostic methods... First of all, there is a deficiency in the training at modern TCM universities... They focus too much attention on learning western methods so, the student recieves too little training in TCM diagnosis. Thus today you see very few good TCM clinicians. Secondly, the skills of TCM diagnosis take many years to acquire and making money quickly has become an important part of doctoring, and you can make much more money using modern diagnostic methods with little to no training... I feel you can never make a machine that will replaces the intuition of a good doctor with the right intentions.

And yes, Cantonese use TCM more than other parts of China. ..

Phil in Zhanjiang

[studentyoung]

Dear quanxie

I disagree that there is deficiency in TCM diagnostic methods... First of all, there is a deficiency in the training at modern TCM universities... They focus too much attention on learning western methods so, the student recieves too little training in TCM diagnosis. Thus today you see very few good TCM clinicians. Secondly, the skills of TCM diagnosis take many years to acquire and making money quickly has become an important part of doctoring, and you can make much more money using modern diagnostic methods with little to no training...

You just hit the nail on the head. Ai! —A deep and long sigh! I can’t agree with you more and you have touched the core of the problem! (It seems that you know quite a few about TCM.) Yes, basically it takes about more than ten years to acquire the all-round skills of TCM diagnostic methods. This course is very hard especially for young medical students. For some utilitarian reasons, just like your words,” and making money quickly has become an important part of doctoring, and you can make much more money using modern diagnostic methods with little to no training...”That’s why the good TCM doctors are getting less and less, but those quacks more and more. (你可真是一针见血了。唉—— 一声长叹！我很同意你的话，而且你已经触及问题的核心！（看来你知道不少关于中医的知识啊。）是的，基本上要把全面的中医诊断技术学到手，要花上十多年的时间。这个过程相当艰苦，对年轻的医科学生来说尤其如此。出于某些功利的原因，正如你所说的那样，“赚钱赚得快成为治病救人的重要一环，你还可以稍作培训或根本不培训就用现代的诊断技术去大赚特赚”。这就是为什么庸医越来越多，良医越来越少的缘故了。)

First of all, there is a deficiency in the training at modern TCM universities... They focus too much attention on learning western methods so, the student recieves too little training in TCM diagnosis.

I think the TCM students have no choice but to focus their attention on learning western methods, for they want to work in some hospitals with good conditions and well-equipped（the way of the world, right?）which require them to have this kind of knowledge. （我认为这些学中医的学生没办法，只能专注于西医知识，因为他们想在条件好，设备全的医院工作(人之常情，对吧？)，而这些医院就要求他们懂西医知识。）

I feel you can never make a machine that will replaces the intuition of a good doctor with the right intentions.

Yes, I agree with your words completely. But I wonder if you have heard of such a word – “ misdiagnosis”? I have heard that there is a subject named “misdiagnosis” in TCM? Sometimes, in order to prove the intuition（even it belongs to the best doctor with the right intentions）, we can use some modern machine to make it clear, right? Of course, I just say “sometimes”, because I understand it very well that even the modern machines cause misdiagnosis from time to time. For example, it is said that the common misdiagnosis rate of B-type supersonic rays in China is 30%. （我完全同意你的话。但我不知道你听说过这个词没有——“误诊”？我听说中医里有这个科目？有时候，为了证明直觉（哪怕它是属于有正义感医术极高的医生）是对的，我们可以用现代的机械设备去把它搞清楚，对吧？当然，我是说“有时候”，因为我明白即便是现代的机械设备也不时地制造误疹。例如，在中国B超的误诊率就达到30%了。）

By the way, your user’s name is “quanxie” . Does it mean “全蝎 a whole scorpion”—a kind of traditional Chinese medicine? Please take it easy, it is nothing more than my guess. （顺便说一下，你的用户名是”quanxie”。它是“全蝎”—— 一种中药——的意思吧？请别介意，仅是我的猜想罢了。）

Thanks so much for your attention on TCM.