Ladder streets

While some ladder streets are made only of traditional steps, some at a moderate incline have portions that could be traversed with a rickshaw or cart.

These portions had raised stones perpendicular to the street at regular intervals acting like a ratchet so that carts and rickshaws could be easily stopped and parked.

[1] Shortly after their arrival in Hong Kong, the British built administrative buildings on the northern shore of the island, in the area which came to be called Victoria and later called Central.

There was no flat land, so during the brief tenure of Sir Henry Pottinger, the first governor of the colony, from 1841 to 1844, streets of steps were planned.

Remaining ladder streets steps are some of the very oldest structures in the territory.