As a type of mountain-song genre, with a strong individual style, its basic characteristics are its short, pithy style, headstrong tunes and fierce, deep emotions, combined to create rich modes of expression. One of the main features of Xintianyou is a high tune in the first line of a song, which drops slowly in the second line. "Tune of Porters" is a good example. The first line introduces the mood, while the second line enunciates the theme. For instance, "When choosing a steed, some stick out from the rest/When choosing a partner, my love's the best." The first line is made up of two tunes, the first of which is long and lingering, imparting a feeling of vastness. The second line is smooth from beginning to end; by manipulating changes and repetitions of the tunes, the singer instills his or her own feelings into the performance. Representative songs of this style include "the Foot Sloggers' Tunes," "Lanhuahua," "Ganshengling," "Guerrillas at the Foot of Mount Hengshan" and "Tongue-tied when I Gaze at that Face."

Xintianyou covers a wide range of subjects. Traditional songs usually reflect the misery of the oppressed. During the revolutions of the 1930s and '40s, a number of songs about the new conditions appeared, all of which contained new lyrics, but were based on the old melodies. Such a trend continued when the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949. After 1949, a series of new songs also surfaced to keep pace with the times. Among all Xintianyou songs, love has always been an important component. Usually, it is sung by a girl who misses her porter lover. "Blue Flower" (a girl's name) is the most famous of such love songs. With time, the local environment has changed a great deal. And since transportation has improved significantly, men no longer leave for long journeys, and women do not suffer the heartache of missing their loved ones. However, some new songs have emerged to match the new social fabric, injecting new vigor into the old genre. With its extraordinary vitality and versatility, Xintianyou has survived and thrived throughout the ages.