GUANGZHOU / SHANGHAI - Wen Zhangbin had a puzzled look on his face when he was asked to pay 102 yuan ($15.69) for three doses of a herbal medicine at the Guangdong No 2 Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine on Tuesday.

"I paid less than 50 yuan for three similar doses at this hospital about a year ago," Wen told China Daily.

The 63-year-old had just taken his 3-year-old grandson to see a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioner at the hospital about the boy's cough and fever.