He translated numerous English publications into Chinese, including The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, The Glory and the Dream, and Red Star Over China.

[2] Dong translated The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer shortly after it was first published in English.

In the 1970s, he also translated The Glory and the Dream by William Manchester and Red Star Over China by Edgar Snow, alongside several other historical works.

Dong produced the most translations in his sixties, when he was working at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of American Studies.

[1] According to Yuwu Song in the Biographical Dictionary of the People's Republic of China, Dong was "one of the best and most prolific Chinese translators in the 20th century".