In Biggles in the Gobi, Feng-tao was the name of a Chinese priest (more probably a Buddhist monk) who first brought news that a group of Western missionaries were hiding in the remote oasis of Nan-hu in the Gobi Desert. Feng-tao was a good friend of Dr Angus McDougall, one of the missionaries. The doctor had once saved Feng-tao's life from some Kirghiz bandits. For this, Feng-tao considered that he owed the doctor a debt of honour. So, when McDougall asked him to carry a message calling for help, Feng-tao agreed, making a journey on foot over fifteen hundred miles and taking several months before finally reaching Hong Kong.
Feng-tao parachuted back into Nan-hu with Algy and Bertie and assisted in preparing the landing site for Biggles' Halifax. At the end of the mission, Feng-tao elected to remain behind to look after the shrine at Nan-hu with his colleague Kao-Ming.