Was reading about Wong Fei Hung today and his style of kung fu he was famous for. But he was also a physician doing TCM. Most of my knowledge of TCM is like acupuncture, moxibustion, and herbs and the like.
Does the CPC police this, not letting people get away with snake oil salesmen who say they can cure cancer with herbs. Or is it encouraged alongside western medicine?
if you’re talking about one specific herb, then sure, there’s lots of stuff you can buy cheaply, and lost of stuff that is expensive.
most TCM that is prescribed to people at regular clinics, as well as TCM that you can get at pharmacies, are still things like pills and powders and syrups, not raw ingredients. at least in my experience from a dozen or so doctors visits and many more pharmacy visits, in several cities.
there are also clinics that specialize in TCM, and TCM drug stores (I’m not calling them pharmacies but i’m not sure what the best word to translate to is) and these places will have the whole ingredient type TCM (including whole dried seahorses) that they measure and grind to a powder for you. they’re also generally expensive for what you get.