Sorry, cnotes11. It wasn't meant for you.

Based on my limited knowledge and experience.

TCM can be very effective for chronic conditions, and as a prophylactic medicine. However, it does not appear to be as effective for acute conditions.
There are clinical trials that support the claims of some TCM medicines. But for most medicines, there is no supportive data.
TCM antibiotics do not seem to be effective, however anti-virals do seem to be more effective.

TCM doctors are often very old. Their medical knowledge is often not up to date. This means that they can prescribe the wrong medicine, even in the big TCM hospitals. E.G. Patients who need to lower the heart rate using beta-blockers can be given 'good for the heart' meds that stimulate heart rate.
It must be remembered that all medicines affect the body's functions and systems. TCM is not just an herbal tea. Self prescribing is not wise, but many locals do it. I would not.

Many Chinese under 40 are relying on modern pharmaceuticals now, especially those with a bit of money. The majority of those who use TCM are the older and less well off. This is not just a status or modernity thing, we are in a land of people who are obsessed with medicine. We can only speculate why.

Regarding alternative treatments. Only a few have proven to be beneficial in clinical trials. These are the treatments that are licenced back home. Some of the others seem to be based on old wives tales, and pseudo-science. Wax straws may be good for cleaning out your ears, but some of the other claims are, well...

The medical profession, generally, is black. TCM hospitals are no different, in fact they can be worse. A specific problem for TCM hospitals is that they are not attracting the next generation of paying customers. A young family member we know was told that an older family was at imminent risk of sudden heart failure, and must be kept in hospital, for tests etc. They would sign out at severe risk, this put huge pressure on an adolescent. The problem was simple arrhythmia (not life threatening). This was at the TCM hospital on DongfangDongLu near BaiTa Lu.

If I were looking for a good TCM practitioner, and have no other referrals here is what I would do. Find a big/busy TCM pharmacy every city has at least one famous established TCM pharmacist. These are usually away from the city centre. As they are busy they will not give you BS to try and sell you anything.

TCM pharmacists are medically trained and can give you advice on non-prescription treatments if appropriate. They can also direct you towards a TCM doctor who can examine you and prescribe medicine. The busy pharmacist will know the busy practitioners, and their specialisations.

So today I was out riding around my neighborhood just for kicks and decided to try my luck at the big new-ish TCM hospital on the corner of Dianmian Ave and Hongshan Nan Lu. There's one woman there who speaks English, she said she works Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. She's upstairs in the rheumatism clinic. The place looks really nice and clean, comfortable, even some privacy here and there. I asked about acupuncture and she gave me some prices, so I'll likely go bak to give that a shot. I described my lingering 8-day cold to her and she prescribed some herbs to me for tea, 140 yuan. Seems a bit pricey but I'll try anything to get rid of this damn cough. Updates to come

140rmb seems way too much. You may have just been better going to the pharmacy. One reason why the old and poor opt for TCM is that it is much cheaper than factory packaged drugs.

TCM
First - TCM medicine is the poor people's hospital. Most TCM hospitals also practice western medicine and can prescribe western meds - so beware. Western meds are usually instantly effective, but come with long-term side effects - lasting days, weeks, months, and in severe cases, years. TCM meds are slower acting, but allegedly have fewer side effects and allegedly wash out of the system faster and or cleaner.

Most Chinese never question the doctor or the meds they receive - by most - I would estimate maybe 99%. They'll research computers, new apartments, cars, even movie star backgrounds rigorously - but zilch when it comes to simply using baidu to understand what meds they're taking and potential drug interactions - which the USA publishes daily, weekly, monthly (ICD?). I've had a crap Chinese doctor prescribe an immunosuppressant while I was recovering from cold/flu symptoms - recipe for pneumonia (or I'm just paranoid). Tossed most of that crap into the can once I google translated the prescriptions - now I check the prescriptions FIRST before I buy.

So although not a recommendation on TCMs as YMMV (your milage may vary) depending on guanxi etc ad infinitum - it is a recommendation on CAVEAT EMPTOR (buyer beware)...and no, I can't speak, read, write latin...and I'm not Catholic (Catholic mass used to be practiced in the debatably semi-original latin - despite the fact that most of the elect are latin illiterate).

For the latin literate, I think the usual phrase is, "O stercore! dederunt mihi iniuriam medicinae"

For those who do NOT know about TCM, perhaps it is best if you first learn and get informed about this topic of discussion.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_Chinese_medicine - Five Phases theory with Yin-yang theory. Learn about Hot and Cold (Yin + Yang) and how to balance the Qi using TCM.

www.tcmwiki.com/wiki/chinese-herbal-medicine

Perhaps most people do not realize that most medicine found in pill form comes from a plant or a substance in nature. You can ingest the plant diretly or take it in a pill form but they are both nearly the same, except that the pill has additional elements to get it into a pill form. Years ago people used to chew on a piece of bark, now people take a pill made from the same bark. TCM has been around for thousands of years and the synergistic effect of combining drugs has been studied in depth while western medicine hasn't got a clue and western doctors prescribe medicine on a trial and error basis and change medication when the patient complains. The most obvious clue as to the difference between TCM and western medicine is the price. Western medicine is a racket and cares little about patients. Their main focus is to make money and use the most expensive and newest treatments to get more money, while TCM still remains low priced and actually treats and cures medical problems while western medicine only addresses the symptoms. This is why marijuana is treated as a narcotic and people are banned from using for medicinal purposes.

Most western medicines have had clinical trials, the more recent trials have used control groups. The contraindications are well documented, and information on this is freely available to all.
The scientific method has been used to asses the drugs, there are fewer assumptions. This has huge relevance to claims of efficacy.

All medicine (W&E) in China is a bit of a racket. You do not need a licence to set up a medical practice in China, unless you want to prescribe drugs, you can offer alternative treatments. One thing a TCM doctor will never do, tell you you don't need medicine. Unless you have Michael Jackson's Dr. most western doctors will refuse to prescribe if there is no need for medicine.

Yes, there are many clinical trials done by both the companies and the FDA. So why is it that so many of the new drugs are later removed because they were killing people? Go ahead and believe in your clinical trials.

You think that Asian medical practitioners' patients don't die needlesly? Through misdiagnosis, negligence, failing to have an effective treatment, lack of knowledge, lack of supervision/regulation?

I think there is a place for TCM and Western treatments and meds, but I do put faith in the scientific method. Otherwise I may as well put my faith in Jesus, and not see any doctors at all (as they are the Devil trying to confuse us and water down our faith in the Lord) as many people do.