In the late 19th century, Westerners often described Seoul during the winter in one of two ways: a dirty, crowded city choking under the haze of smoke from countless chimneys, or as a clean and quaint city with streets blanketed by snow and its inhabitants dressed in clean white clothing except during the holidays when they wore brightly colored festive outfits. I think, for the casual observer, the latter was a truer description - at least in the mid-1880s.