'timbered bridge'), which dates back to the Qing Dynasty during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor (1735–1796 AD); thus derived Hokkien-based spellings Pankyu, Pankio, and Pankyo were common in English before 1945.

[2][3] A wooden bridge, locally called Pang-kiô-thâu (枋橋頭), was built for pedestrians to cross a brook located in the west of today's Banqiao, the modern day Nanzih Creek (湳仔溝).

In the early 20th century, Pankyo (Pankyu) was a walled city and said to be owned by a landlord who had lived there "in feudal style", surrounded by armed retainers.

[2] From 1920 to 1945, during Japanese rule, the area was administrated as Itahashi Town (板橋街), Kaizan District, Taihoku Prefecture.

Banqiao is surrounded by Taipei to the east, Sanchong to the north, Xinzhuang to the northwest, Shulin to the southwest, Tucheng to the south, and Zhonghe to the southeast.