Chinese writer Lao Ma (the pen-name of Professor Ma Junjie), who is known as a pioneer of the popular genre of “flash fiction” (very short fiction) in China was awarded Mongolia’s highest literary award on the 2^nd of September in the capital of Ulan Bator. This is the first time a Chinese writer has received this award. This makes Lao Ma the third Asian recipient of the award after Japanese author ShuntaroTanikawa and Korean author Ko Un. This marks a new chapter in Sino-Mongolian literary exchange. A presentation speech was given in honor of Mr. Ma. The speaker began by saying that “his fictionfeatures humor and wit that is rare and unique in the world of literature. His stories have given us joy, while at the same time allowed us to make discoveries about our world and ourselves.” In his acceptance speech, Lao Ma said, “I am very honored to accept this noble award and I want to extend my deepest gratitude to your own country for your love, encouragement, and respect of literature and literary artists that you show through giving this award.” Reportedly, although Mongolia and China are neighboring countries, cultural exchange is not very common and Chinese works are rarely translated into Mongolian.However, there have been exceptions with the works of Lu Xun being translated to Mongolian in the early 1950’s and later the works of Li Bai (also known as Li Po) and Du Fu, as well as some translations that were derived from Russian versions. In particular, Lao Ma’s Mongolian versions of his two collections of short stories have been deeply loved by readers. Lao Ma’s works were translated by the famous Mongolian translator SendooHadaa. According to Hadaa, Lao Ma’s work is very popular in Mongolia. Due to Mongolia’s smallpopulation, works from Haruki Murakami, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and other world-class writers number only around 1,000 or so volumes. Lao Ma’s works are also only printed at about this volume. However, with news of this award, stores have already sold out. Publishers are preparing to print 1,500 additional copies. Lao Ma is currently a professor at Renmin University of China where he goes by his real name, Ma Junjie. He is a member of the Fiction Committee of the China Writers’ Association. He began writing in the 1990’s and has since published hundreds of short stories and novellas in a range of publications, with over one hundred of these collected in 21st Century Annual Fiction Selection, China’s Best Novellas, and A Century of Classic Micronovels. Major works include the full-length novel Ai-Hai-Yo, the story collections Daft Smile, Certain People, Situation Report, In A Sense, Unspoken Script, Wait a Moment, 100% Happy, Extraordinary Interview, One Man Party, and Soft Lump; as well as the essay collections Smiles Also Teach and Far Mountains, Nearby Trees, and the dramatic collection Bakhtin’s Carnival. His works have also been translated into Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, English, French, and Spanish.