beijing in chinese new year

Hello there,

I am wondering if it is a good idea to spend the Spring Festival in Beijing.
There are conflicting information on the net. Some say it is full of crowds, others say it is calm.

According to the news websites, most of the people leave Beijing and travel back to their hometowns. Thus, just before the festival the transportation is a total chaos - which I can understand. After this migration, the city is much less crowded, since only local beijingers stay in town. (A news agency reported that 9 million ppl traveled out of Beijing in 2013!)

But what about the touristic attractions during the festival? For sure there are many Chinese tourists who want to spend the festival in the capital, right? And I believe there must be thousands of international tourists (there are countless tours organized in that period). So, would the tourist attractions be more crowded in this holiday than the normal time in Beijing?

What would you recommend? Would the festival celebrations be a compensation for the stress due to the crowds? =)

Thank you very much for your reply in advance!