This paper provides a brief review of the literature on traditional Chinese medicine in both China and the United States and presents observations from a preliminary study of Chinese practitioners in the Chinatown section of Los Angeles, California. The dualistic health care system in Chinese culture is described as comprising both scholarly and folk traditions, and the roles of both styles of practitioners in dealing with physical and sociopsychological problems are explored. Based on observation of medical professionals and herb speciality shops, interviews with traditional doctors and acupuncturists, and perusal of ads in local Chinese American newspapers, it is concluded that several types of alternative health care providers currently practice in Chinatown: (1)"Chinese-style doctors," mostly elderly, who rely on pulse diagnosis and treat patients with herbal medicines and dietary advice; (2) acupuncturists; (3) Chinese chiropractors or bone setters; (4) dispersers of herbs, tonics, and patent medicines; and (5) psychics. It is suggested that the continuing influx of Chinese immigrants, as well as the Chinese's tendency to seek to enhance their health status, contributes to the maintenance of the traditional health care sector in Chinese American communities. (GC)