Following the beginning of Reform and Opening, Dong Xi was able to join the Chinese department of Hechi Normal College[3] (now known as Hechi University), a small college in northwestern Guangxi on the southern end of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau.
In the fall of 1992, Dong Xi broke into major literary magazines, publishing short fiction and two novellas in Harvest, Flower City and Chinese Writer.
Dong Xi's short fiction and novellas are often grouped together with other work from writers that emerged in urban China in the 1980s.
The adaptation won a Best Artistic Contribution[5] at the 15th Tokyo International Film Festival.
My Sister's Dictionary (2005) was adapted from Dong Xi's A Resounding Slap in the Face (1998).