My bad. I don't know why I didn't see the "2013" part on my first 2 read of OP. I guess I am too occupied with the coming Dragon year in about a week.

Even though there's half a month celebration for Chinese New Year, certain dates are more ritual and/or festive than others, for example Lantern Festival (Lunar Jan 15) definitely comes with more action than say Lunar Jan 13. Depending on how Thunderroad plans his itinerary around the CNY holidays, he may be able to enjoy both the local scenes and crowds.