Chinese herbs are widely used in Chinese cuisine and the use of them is a very popular tradition. Many of the modern drugs have been developed from these herbs. Some herbal drugs can boost the energy; nourish the blood and calm tension. Over three hundred herbs that are commonly used today have a 2,000-year history.

The most commonly used herbs are Ginseng, Dong Quai (Angelica sinensis, danggui), bupleurum (chaihu), coptis (huanglian), ginger, hoelen (fuling), licorice (gancao), ephedra sinica (mahuang) and rehmannia (dihuang). The use of Ginseng is well over two thousand years old in Chinese medicine. Ginseng is known to help boost energy, reduce stress and increases endurance.

Chinese herb tea (medicinal herbal tea), is a kind of tea-soup made from purely Chinese medicinal herbs in Guangdong and is popular in Macau and Hong Kong as well. It usually tastes bitter or lightly sweet and its color is typically black or dark brown, depending on what kinds of herbs are used. Chinese herb tea was included in China's Intangible Heritage in 2006.