In Chinese medicine, the main difference between a hot cough and a cold cough is the presence or absence of a sore throat. Most coughs in children have similar causes and symptoms to those of adults, and are mostly caused by the invasion of evil Qi into the lungs and the poor functioning of the lung Qi. Usually, there are two types of cough: cold cough and hot cough, which refer to the different causes and symptoms of cough in children. 1. Hot cough: 1. External cough: usually caused by the wind-heat evil invading the lung qi, most of the symptoms include sore throat and hoarse voice; violent cough, coughing with sweating, thin yellow tongue coating, yellow urine and dry stools; yellow-colored and sticky sputum; some children may have yellow nasal discharge, fever and headache; 2. Internal cough: usually caused by phlegm-heat stagnation in the lung, most of the symptoms include coarse coughing qi The cough is usually caused by phlegm and heat stagnation in the lungs, and is characterized by a coarse cough, a sound of phlegm in the throat, a reddish tongue, and a thin, yellowish coating; the phlegm is yellowish in color and sticky in texture, and sometimes there is blood in the phlegm. Cold cough: 1. External cold cough: caused by wind and cold attacking the lung, with symptoms such as coughing and shortness of breath, itchy but not painful throat, and thin white tongue coating; the coughing out of sputum is mostly white and thin in texture; some children also have symptoms such as nasal congestion, runny nose, fear of cold, fever but no sweating; 2. Internal injury cough: mostly caused by cold phlegm injuring the lung over time, except for the absence of external cold evidence, i.e., runny nose, fever but no sweating, etc. The symptoms are similar to those of external coughs, except that there is no external cold evidence, i.e., runny nose, fever without sweating, and fear of cold. In addition to cold and hot coughs, patients may also have coughs with unknown heat and cold, such as phlegm-damp coughs, etc. Because coughs with different causes vary greatly in treatment, parents are advised to take their children to the doctor in a timely manner to clarify the cause of the cough and provide targeted treatment.