I do not have much experience of winter, that is a REAL winter with snow and ice. Here in Sydney there's not much difference visually. The imported deciduous trees still shed their leaves, and there is less color (flowers) but that's about it. I've only seen snow once or twice in my life. I could, of course, go to the hill areas near Canberra and experience the changes that winter snows bring to the landscape. So possibly, that's the fascination (for me). Landscapes lose their familiar appearance and are transformed.
It must have been a similar experience for these Singaporean tourists, hiking the Great wall in winter as the colours of the landscape are muted by the winter dieback and mists
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQE4p2jjOik
and after a snow fall the scene changes again
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rJy3G1JGhA