To give an overview of utagaki currently practiced in southern China and northern South-East Asia, the custom is most typically observed in the manner that men and women in their teens and 20s gather together in the evening of a holiday (in many cases, at the beginning of spring) and exchange love songs so that couples may enter relationships with each other.
現代の中国南部および東南アジア北部で見られる歌垣を概観すると、祝祭日（多くの場合、播種前の春先）の夜に10代半ばから20代の男女が集会し、互いに求愛歌を掛け合いながら、対になり恋愛関係になる、といった類型が多い。