The land-boat dance is said to commemorate Yu the Great, a legendary emperor who successfully led the people to fight floods. The land-boat dance represents various boating movements on land, and the performer is usually a girl or a young woman. The boat is not a real one, and it is merely made of two pieces of thin bamboo sawn into the shape of a boat. It is covered with bright colorful cloth and tied around the waist of the performer. This creates an effect that a girl is rowing the boat (but she is actually standing on the ground).

Holding an oar in hand, the performer imitates the action of rowing while moving to and fro and sings local ditties at the same time. Sometimes, there is a man abroad the boat playing the part of a passenger. He mostly plays a clown to amuse the audience through different funny movements.