The western pharmaceutical industry has a very hard time penetrating the Chinese market.
Chinese people reject artificial and chemical based medicine. In addition more and more proven Chinese medicine finds its way into the western world nowadays simply because some are miracle drugs.
For this reason, just like in the 20th century, what they did in Europe and the USA, a number of western pharmaceutical companies is spreading again fear and lies about natural TCM. And those lies can simply be unproven and ungrounded. Why? Because they can tell lies as long as they are in their own media outlets (anyone can put stuff online). If they appear in true scientific magazines and articles, they need to show proof and some need to be double-checked before being published. Anyone can tell lies, anyone likes to tell lies about someone else's products. Especially when it's about earning a lot of money.

Yet, hypocritically a number of the products these western companies sell are concentrated TCM but in capsules, tablets or pills.

Yes, I agree and also believe there is contamination to a certain extend among the TCM herbs sold in China and those exported. But I believe the "lower" quality is exported rather than the higher quality. Plus there are all the taxes, duties, etc. So yes, they'll choose the cheapest of the lot (that's what most companies do).
Foreigners don't pay the same prices Chinese do for high-grade herbs.
That's why some herbs and plants cost more than gold (literally).

But here is what they conveniently forgot to mention: you can prove "toxicity" of something which is naturally not toxic. But how to prove and describe "toxicity" on something which is a toxic itself?
I mean, why would anyone say their own product is bad?

There lies the simple problem. Many western medicine is often a toxic or an artificially produced product and has a list of side-effects the size of a book.
This is caused by the need to monetize on a certain medicine within a specific time. After this the medicine becomes "public" and anyone can (re-)produce this. That's why aspirin is soo incredibly cheap nowadays. It's past its single ownership period.
To monetize faster on a certain medicine, western medicine is required by their companies and investors to treat many different illnesses with the same single product rather than only 1 illness. However, the more illnesses it treats, the longer the list of side-effects tends to become.
In contrast to TCM which treats only 1 or a very few illnesses (as it is designed to only treat something specific by a doctor), the list of side-effects is much shorter.

As TCM usually take a longer time to work and change / heal your body, if your body rejects it, you often won't get "hit" as hard as with western medicine.

Now you wonder, why do they put a ton of other TCM herbs in there too? Well, that's simple: with western medicine only focusing on the treatment of the illness, Chinese medicine focuses also on reducing side-symptoms, side-effects and allowing your body to easier absorb and digest the medicine. Not by giving it a nicer taste (it absolutely sucks and reeks), but simply by helping control any condition arising from the treating medicine and above all any condition which arose from your illness in the first place.

I.e. if you have a lung condition you may not just have a lung condition. Your chest might hurt, you may have skin irritation as your body works harder to heal / maintain your lungs' capacity, you may have difficulty breathing and you may have a change in blood-pressure. If it hurts a lot you may be more frequently irritated and have a reduced patience. (just some ideas).
The western medicine might be aimed solely at treating your lungs, but doesn't make your recovery easier or help your body help the recovery.

However, the price you pay for TCM herbs is indeed very overpriced. (Just like some medicine in the USA :) The price you actually pay here is for the doctor. Do you think he'll be happy with a couple yuan? That's just the "consulting fee", not his payment.

* warning: some live-flight status websites don't show "local" time of the place of destination. Meaning you don't know when the plane arrives.
Why? Because they only show CST (Central Standard Time of the USA).
How come: because when a website is from the USA they sometimes don't bother showing local time for other countries and time-zones.

Nearly all international airports + all Airlines have their own websites with the latest flight-information :)

Problem with TCM doctors abroad: they can't often get the right herbs and right quality (many Yunnan herbs are a lot more potent than US or European herbs). That's why we came here.

A lot of those "naturopaths, homeopaths" etc. medicine doesn't work because it's too weak or because the doctors aren't properly trained in their field. Some TCM doctors in China have received a 1000 times more rigorous training than those western alternative medicine doctors.
Plus they have reputations to uphold. Reputation = prestige and thus more income. I've seen such doctors get patients from other provinces just because of their superb specialty. I've seen and used a variety of medicines (some home-made by specialists).
Some medicine work absolute miracles. And some don't work at all because our bodies are used to western medicine. It varies per person and the type of condition.

Anyways, be sure to get as much information and speak to local doctors, specialists etc. Find the right hospital. Each hospital has their own specialties and specialists working there. 1 Specialist doctor or doctor with connections can make a difference in your treatment.

Hey Shyam,

You're welcome :)
We have real western food for very reasonable prices and wines by the glass.
Don't know when you'll be back but our 99 yuan p/p Christmas and New Year menu goes on till January 1st.
Good luck on your travels :)

@ Shyam, yes and no. Making your place smoke-free is like trying to make Chinese doctors stop smoking.
However, our bar (Napa Valley) is quiet as we're outside the 2nd ring. Plus a lot of our guests like wine and therefor don't smoke. None of our staff and management smokes.
We have private rooms upstairs with their own ventilation which don't smell of smoke. We also have outdoor lakeside tables which are nice when it's a little warmer.
On a scale of 0-10 (worst), I'd say we're at 1 ^_^

PS: we have high-speed wifi (free) and I speak German too.
There is a German guy active with some classes and fun activities teaching German. His name is Rolf. Don't know if he reads this. I can PM you his phone-number or We-Chat. There is a post about "German meetings" on here.