Chung Hsin Herbs

There is a guy there who is almost always cheerful and friendly. I know if I have his attitude, maybe I don’t need any medicine after all. (although, dealing with other people or companies in the Bay Area, I know I can’t have his attitude, not easily).
He is quite knowledgeable about Chinese medicine (herbs), and he gives good recommendation for over the counter medications the few times I have been there. I noticed a couple of people mentioned that this place looks like it has not been sanitized for a while, but note that in Traditional Chinese Medicine, we are not so afraid of bacteria or germs. Do you know that in our small intestine, there are more «good bacteria» than the number of human cells in our body, and that our immune system largely depend on these bacteria? So don’t worry so much. (and there are lots of bad bacteria in our small intestine too, and we want the good ones to outnumber the bad ones). In Traditional Chinese Medicine, we actually worry about disinfectants, chemicals, Windex solution, cleaning solutions, a lot more than we worry about germs — the chemicals can give you cancer or all kinds of side effects, versus, if you walk past some grass, trees, and the soil /​mud under it, I can tell you in the soil, there are trillions and trillions of bacteria, and the trees, grass, and soil are what makes us feel good, as opposed to the Windex solution — so if you don’t understand why this place doesn’t look like it is disinfected, this might be the answer.

I have been a patron of Chung Hsin Herbs for nearly a decade.
Chung Hsin Herbs has very dedicated, expert and helpful pharmacists/​doctors.
Pricing is very competitive and quality is the best that I’ve seen in the South Bay.
Paul

It us a great place that has lot of herbs. You need to have your doctor prescription to bring to them.

Walked to the lady at the counter and asked if she could suggest herb packets for a vegetarian who felt she needed a «boost». She looked at me, walked to an aisle and grabbed one of the packets. I asked how to make it, she asked me my question back… I said just put it in a pot of water and boil with tofu? She said yes.
Thanks for helping with the ratios. my soup sucked and because it was an herbal soup.

I have recently ventured into the world of TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) and decided to fill a week’s dose at this place because of the proximity to my workplace. Knowing how to read Chinese would be helpful here as it’s an extra effort to look up these stores instead of being able to spontaneously drop by one while driving around. Finding this store was actually more challenging than I thought as in Cupertino Square Village where Chung Hsin Herbs is located, a lot of stores had huge bins of dehydrated fruits, flowers, fungus, and roots. Usually, this would be a visual indicator that I’m in the right place, but I was turned away from the first store that wasn’t a «pharmacy» despite selling dried stuff.
I was about to give up and go back to Tak Yan Herbal on Hostetter Rd. when I started smelling the distinct aroma of herbal medicine near a beauty clinic that, for some reason, also sold a bunch of preserved herbal stuff, probably for the skin, or maybe to munch on as you’re having your own face preserved in the ways of Joan Rivers. Next to the beauty clinic, tucked waaaaay in the corner, was Chung Hsin Herbs. A tiny white paper sign on the door had the business name in English.
Only one dude speaks English in there when I arrived. The dude who takes your pulse was having a conversation with some people who looked like they were just squatting the shop. The lady working the Rx counter just took out herbs with her bare hands, no gloves, which was sorta grody. Despite a Visa & Mastercard credit card logo on their wall (and note here that I cannot read the extensive Chinese surrounding these logos, so excuse me if I misinterpreted), they said they’ll only take cash. I looked into my wallet and only had enough for 4 doses since it’s $ 7.50/pop, 50 cents more than what I paid at Tak Yan for my Rx.
The guy said if I want 5 doses, he can take the cash I have and charge the last dose on credit (after having said they don’t take credit, none of the herbal shops take credit. I pointed out that I filled my Rx at a place that does accept credit card last time and told him to just give me 4 doses since I didn’t want him to go out of his way or anything).
So he and the lady filled my Rx, and it was messy as some of the fluffier leaves spilled over their square patches. The lady just brushed them off the counter into the plastic bags like you would bread crumbs. Not trusting the sanitation of their countertop, I was slightly disgusted. I know you boil up the herbs before consumption, but still.
Most ingredients in my Rx look the same as my first time filling it at Tak Yan, but some are slightly different. One ingredient is enclosed in a tea-​bag-​like filter, and he said don’t open that, just cook it in the bag. They also ran out of bigger bags to put my 4 doses of Rx in, so I walked to the car looking like I had just done some serious forest gathering to the untrained eye. I can’t comment on the quality of the medicine over Tak Yan, but I’m docking off some stars for difficulty to find the shop, credit card policy, sanitation, and overall service.

Would not return. I went because it was convenient. My acupuncturist gave me a basic script. It included two ingredients which he told me to get at the regular market: ginger and red dates. There were two ingredients I needed. The ladies measured with bare hands, one sneezed into her hands and then continued to measure my herbs. I realize it gets boiled, but still. Then there was no transparency about cost. First they told me 14.50. I paid and on my way out the other lady shouted for me to come back. Said it is 17. Ok, you made a mistake, but you should apologize. Plus they could not explain how to cook the herbs. Very poor knowledge to customer fairly new to herbs and herb cooking! I went online and read some more info. And the place does not look like it has been cleaned/​disinfected in years.

This herb store is great! They have a lot of herbs that I pick up. The prices are good and they have a lot of variety. There’s even an herbal doctor that can help you, and you only pay for the herbal prescription. Great little place. I pick up herbs for insomnia, allergies and stuff and also they have a lot of pain patches. works well.

After spending hundreds of dollars on Chinese Herbal Medicine over the years, I figured it was time to take my doctor’s prescription to a local herb store and get it duplicated. I’d like to think of it as paying generic drug prices instead of brand name ones at one-​fifth the cost.
Chung Hsin Herbs is located on the right side facing Joy Luck Restaurant’s front entrance. When I walked in today, the store was consistently busy with at least two customers at all times. A Chinese doctor was present to examine walk-​in patients and make prescriptions taken by the front counter. I waited 15 minutes until the ladies behind the counter was able to assist me with my particular request. I handed my original bag of herbs to one of the ladies and she said it would take some time to decipher each ingredient. Another 10 minutes passed and the herbal lady said $ 4 per bag. $ 4? OMG! I thought to myself. So I ordered 5 bags for $ 20.
After getting sick at least twice a year with a bad cough involved, I knew exactly what each herb looked like after carefully examining them as Dr Lip’s wife put the prescriptions together. I watched the lady who was handling my order at the store and she carefully laid out each herb type on a red vinyl square. Everything looked kosher down to the last two white envelopes. Each of the square contents were tossed into clear plastic bags and tied up. Flawless.
What it comes down to is Savings. Instead of paying $ 40 for four days worth of medicine, I only pay $ 8 plus a local trip 10 minutes one-​way from where I live. Travel and wait time in San Francisco would take at least a two hour round-​trip.
Highly recommended if you’re in the same boat as me!