Ladder Street is a steep flight of steps climbing up past the Man Mo Temple, built to ease the passage of nineteenth century sedan-chair bearers.

At the top and off to the right lies the district of Tai Ping Shan or “Peaceful Mountain”, which by the 1890s had belied its name by becoming a place whose overcrowded slums hosted outbreaks of plague.

After a particularly virulent eruption in 1894 killed 2500 people, the slums were cleared and a Bacteriology Institute built nearby, where that year French researcher Alexandre Yersin discovered that plague was spread to humans by rat fleas. Housed in an attractive Edwardian building, the institute is now the Museum of Medical Sciences (Tues- Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 1-5pm; $10), though the dated medical equipment on display is less interesting than the area’s history, which is illustrated with period photographs.

Tai Ping Shan district also houses a cluster of old neighbourhood temples, near the corner of Tai Ping Shan Street and Pound Lane. First is the Kuan Yam Temple, dating from 1840 and dedicated to the Buddhist goddess of mercy.

The green-tiled Shui Yuat Temple opposite is dedicated to Shui Yuat Paak, revered for his ability to cure illnesses - the statue was installed during the 1894 plague outbreak in an attempt to quell the disease.