basically i don't trust any medicine in China.

I bring my own for basic aliments, eg asprin etc.

as regards the prices, everything is priced in pharmacies - as far as i have seen, so there is no question about foreigners paying a different price.

as regards quality - if needed, i'd go to Watson's if i am looking for something: it is the closest to a guarantee i can think of in terms or quality.

It depends on which city you are in, if you know anyone and luck. But basically doctors, dentists and pharmacies are loaded with liars, scam artists or ignorant primitive-minded  superstitious incompetent  people who should not be in practice. The second you walk through the door they will start thinking of 20-30 ways to cheat you. 

My advice; use the internet and common sense to research what problem you have, and look up the medications and translation. 

Avoid doctors, hospitals at all cost, don't be a drunk stupid careless frat boy and avoid traffic accidents (goes without saying but I have seen countless foreigners crossing the streets like locals and riding their bikes helmetless).

The biggest health risks you'll face here will be diarrhea and food poisoning, due to inconsistent food safety and handling practices.  The medicine they have available for that here is cheap!  3 rmb for a box of 12 caplets last time I bought some (same price for locals and foreigners). Unfortunately, it's effectiveness is placebo-ish at best.

So, in the case of diarrhea, I suggest you bring your own stash of whatever you'd typically use in your home country (immodium A-D or equivalent).  Try to take note of what you might've eaten to cause it, and avoid that place in the future.

For food poisoning, you're just going to have to vomit/poop/flush it all out.  May or may not end up having to go to the hospital for an IV.  Don't worry, they are pros at administering IV drips.  Many locals at the first sign of an oncoming cold (cough, sniffles, etc) will go to the hospital for an IV.  Seemingly, almost all remedies for almost all problems call for an IV with appropriate cocktail of drugs as a first measure.  You won't be lonely in the IV hall....

After the IV, they will probably send you home with more "medicine" to take later.  If "prescribed" by the "doctor", it will be on the expensive side, taste like shit, and is also placebo-ish at best.  Better off just to drink lots of water and eat simply for a few days.

Hey GOOD LUCK and welcome to China! 

Doctors/hospitals in China are generally the same. You will find that more hospitals have a VIP section. The difference between a VIP department and a normal department is if you need to sit in a noisy waiting room or not. The doctors qualifications are about the same. 

Be acutely aware that doctors are getting paid by how much treatment the manage to get people to go through. I've seen a doctor say "Oohhh, this is bad, I think you need to stay overnight" then when the doc realized they were out of hospital beds this changed to "just go home and see how you feel tomorrow" A pretty big change. The doctors suffer from not wanting to give bad news (fear of conflict) they tell you what they think you want to hear and always that it is best to just do a little bit of some treatment. 

In terms of the skills of the doctors. I happen to have a friend who has a Ph D in "International Medicine" (or something like that) He says that there is actually a lot of good data coming out of China, e.g. results from experimental treatment etc that is looking very promising. His view is that China is on par with Europe/US when it comes to treatment. However, in actual life. The doctors in the hospitals stick to basics. Either they don't get the knowledge or they chose treatment options based on how they can keep a patient in the hospital bed longest. 

(From memory) Average duration of a hospitalization in China is 12 days. Northern Europe, it's 4.

All encounters I've had with the Chinese healthcare has been below expectations.

The price. It's kind of cheap. E.g. staying in a hospital here in town is about 20 per night. For that money you get nothing but the bed. If you don't have friends/family, you need to pay for an ayi to sponge bathe you and get you food. 

Don't get sick. You will not find a hot nurse for the sponge baths. 

I live in the extreme north/west corner of China and I'm pretty sure my nearest medical help is in Hong Kong.  Or is Seoul closer...?

Anyway, one of those places.

My motto has been, and remains:  "A gutful of beer a day keeps the doctor away!"

And it seems to be holding me in good stead.

Please, do not connect medicine and china in one sentence

 Okay, some is useless, some is usefull, depend on your luck , day in month, star constellation and many many other aspects...

Bring as some of the basic stuff from back home, like aspirin, cough medicine, cold medicine. I don't think you'll have a problem finding a drugstore, and all the ones I've been to also had their prices displayed.

As for the hospitals,... try to avoid getting seriously ill or getting in a serious accident where you'll possibly need to be operated on...

Buy health insurance, but be aware that even with insurance, you might still run into trouble when you need to be hospitalized. I've heard more than a few stories where people have had insurance, and they were refused treatment because they couldn't pay up front; in all these cases it was that the patient needs to pay for everything first, keep the receipts, and afterwards the insurance company would reimburse them (or reimburse part of the amount...)

Cough/cold medicine.  Bullshit.  Diarrhoea medicine.  Bullshit.  Just bring some ticker, and you'll be okay.

I've found that when I go to the pharmacy, they give me some pills and when I look them up online they are drugs used in American and UK about 10 years, but noone takes them anymore - too strong, bad side effects etc - so I quickly put them down, curl up in ball and waiting for the illness to go away. 

For upset stomachs etc. I do use Chinese medecine. But my friend alsways gets it for me, and I never remember the name, it basically looks like a ping pong ball and is full of herbs. You slowly chew it throughout the day (anyone know what this is called?)

Superstitious voodoo mostly. Song & dance to get people's money. You'd be lucky if the medicine you get prescribed (traditional or real) doesn't hurt you. In China, you'd be very lucky to find a doctor who isn't trying to make you iller so you buy into his medicine plan. The only thing protecting you is their damned 'face': Bigger hospitals tone down the moneygrabbing for fear of being too obvious.

My wife was in hospital a few years back. The doctor ( very good English) was telling me the options for the treatment. She wanted me to pay 20k RMB for an injection.  Sort of put me in a spot you know.  I was sure of what the eventual outcome would be ( my wife was suffering a miscarriage), but I remember thinking would my wife blame me if she lost the baby and I not paid. 

I sat down with a western friend and we researched the treatment the doctor had suggested, and I said no. The treatment was not proven, and in the end the doctor agreed with me the potential risks were really too high.

Now, the above story could be construed as the doctor trying to make money.  But I honestly do not believe that was the case.  She was trying to help in any way she could, and at no time did she make any false claims. Strangely though, after I declined the suggested treatment, the doctor suggested traditional medicine. She said it sometimes works for reasons unknown. Very odd, I thought, for a doctor to go from talking in technical detail about an expensive experimental treatment, to an explanation of the benefits of stewed frog uterus (or whatever it was), without her missing a beat.

A long winded story I know.  But my point is that the OP should come here with an open mind.  It's too easy to read horror stories and arrive here with pre-conceptions that everything is a scam.  China has certainly opened my mind.

I really can't decide if certain things in China are worse or better than elsewhere.  But I know for sure things are different here.

The OP just needs to give it a go to find out if he/she can handle things being so different.