Tong authored the textbook Cultural Anthropology and specialized in early southwest China.

In English, one of his most widely cited articles is a review of Chinese archaeology under socialism.

[5] In science fiction he wrote the satirical New Journey to the West, and the short story Death Ray on a Coral Island.

He died in the US after fleeing China following the Government crackdown on the protests at Tiananmen Square.

At the time, he was a visiting scholar at Wesleyan University, which has instituted a lecture series in his name, an Enzheng Tong Archaeology Library located at its Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies.