the one who spoke english asked him about not only his actions and diet of the last few days , but also about his long-term habits of exercise , his diet before coming to china , his familys medical history , how he felt about his work these days at beida , how he was getting along on his own ( he had mentioned his ex-wife and daughter in california ) , whether or not he was looking forward to returning to america when his appointment here was completed , and what he thought of traditional chinese as opposed to western medicine .