He was originally from Taiyuan in Shanxi, but lived in the West Lake area in Zhejiang province.
The Record of Ghosts (录鬼簿) describes Qiao as having an aloof and intimidating demeanor, to the point people were in awe of him.
Two of his plays, Jinqian Ji (金钱记) and Yangzhou Meng (扬州梦), were particularly celebrated in his day and are now considered part of the classical canon.
One of his methods was referred to as the "six character prescription", which he explained as a lyric poem with a "phoenix head, pig's belly and a leopard tail".
Qiao wrote that he had "wandered for forty years", travelling around many of the central and southern areas of China.