i think you should celebrate the chinese new year in a big city such beijing, shanghai and so on. coz there are various activities with chinese tradition during that period. Or you could travel to embrace some customs, i recommend some attractions in the south part of china such as yunnan and guizhou, and there are thick cultural atmosphere with chinese traditional identities. still, i guess that you may be alone and you should try to meet new friends. after all, Chinese New Year means family reunion. GOOD LUCK~and merry chrismas and happy new year~

If you want to get a feeling of real traditional festival of china, especialy spring festival. you'd better go to countryside. there remains real tradion. the city, in the other hand, has changed greatly and has litte trasion left. you can talk to an family that it maybe allow you to join them to spend the festival. good luck.

at the eve and on the day of spring festival,i suggest you spend it in a cottage whith a family.it is more chinese than in big city. many traditional activeties happens in the following days.like temple fair. after that you could go to the big city watch the temple fair.the fair there is better and merrier. where are you?welcome to spend spring festivel in my city--shijiazhuang

If you really like celebrate a real Spring Festival, I think the best day is to find a big family (who, for the best, lives in small city)and stay with them. :)

I think it's better to spend the Chinese NewYear in a small city. Because you can experience more traditional custom. A great number of people in the big cities may come from other regions. If you want to experience the pure traditional custom, just spend the time in a small city.