Have you ever been walking down the street in October and been startled by a foul smell coming from under your feet? Once, an international student asked, "Did someone throw something on the street?" He even asked me that once. The culprit is none other than ginkgo fruit. ## Here's how to avoid it It's best not to step on the yellow fruit that has fallen and burst open. If it gets on the soles of your shoes, the smell lasts a long time. Try walking on the opposite side of the path from the trees. If you've already stepped on one, you can scrub it off with water and detergent. Don't touch the fruit with your bare hands. It can make your skin itchy. ## Why Ginkgo Trees of All Things? Ginkgo trees hold up very well in cities. They resist exhaust fumes and insects, and they grow well even in narrow, hard ground. When Korea's cities were growing fast, it had to plant a lot of trees along the roadsides. Back then, the easy-to-grow ginkgo was a good choice. Their pretty yellow color in autumn also played a part. ## Why Do They Smell? Ginkgo trees come in separate female and male trees. Only the female trees bear fruit. But it's hard to tell young trees' sex apart. So in many cases, people didn't know when they planted them, and the trees only bore fruit after they had grown. These days, more people complain about the inconvenience, so local governments sometimes shake the fruit off in advance or replace the trees with male ones. The smelly streets are traces of the history of Korean cities planting trees.