The spread of Yandun drum has been very old, and its drum custom is from the New Year's Eve on the 30th of December to the end of the Lantern Festival on the 15th of the first month of the lunar calendar every year. Every month on the first lunar month of the lunar calendar, according to the tradition, the adults and children in the villages all stretched out the drums and gathered together to beat the drums. Come to play the drums, in order to express friendship, after dawn, the villagers moved out of the house to congratulate each other with big rice dumplings, fenli, and bacon. The drummers are usually strong men in the village. Shirtless and drumming. At the end of the Lantern Festival, according to the custom, it is impossible to beat the drums for fear of missing agricultural affairs. However, the local custom said that in order to enjoy the fun, the drums should be sent for one more night until the evening of the 16th day of the first lunar month. They put the big drum on the bankang in the house or in the house where they are idle, and play the drum again in the coming year.

This custom has always been popular, and there are many local folklore and stories about playing the big drum. A legend is spread in the villages such as Shidui and Fengshan at the foot of Shiou Mountain in the south of Yandun. There used to be a beast called "Nian". Its temperament was very ferocious and cruel. It is said that because the sound of the drum is very majestic and shocking, the supernatural power of the drum beats away all kinds of "vermin" and even kills them. Another legend is in the area of Dengtang and Liuju in the north of Yandun. According to legend, there was a general who was a military general in ancient times. He was very fond of playing drums. Every year on the 30th day of the lunar calendar, the drums were played on New Year's Eve until the 16th day of the first lunar month. , his wife said: "Spring has come, people are starting to do field work, why don't you start field work? It is always fun to play the drum." Later, the general became the emperor of the dynasty and thought that the big drum was an important item. Physical activities for people to enhance physical fitness and exchange friendship. In order not to miss the agricultural work and to carry out recreational activities, the drumming was set on the 30th New Year's Eve of the lunar calendar until the 16th day of the first lunar month. The emperor loved martial arts very much throughout his life, and later extended to play drums, first wearing a red belt, playing the drum with a prosperous (emperor) spirit, during which he performed folk martial arts, lion dances, etc., to show peace, pray for blessings, and a custom of warding off evil spirits. The drum beats a good year, the auspicious scene, and the harvest of the five grains will probably come out from now on.

Yandun is located in the watershed between Nanyue and Xiou and Luoyue people at the junction of Guangdong and Guangxi. There is only a small mountain range between the provinces. Therefore, in the late Ming Dynasty, a beacon fire was set up on the top of Yandunxu Ridge to set off a wolf smoke alarm. When there is a war or a major event, the villages communicate with each other with the sound of drums to prevent the invasion of foreign enemies or the attack of wild beasts, and jointly defend the homeland. Later, when there were few wars and the beasts disappeared, it evolved into the custom of playing big drums during the New Year. In modern times, drumming has become a local entertainment for the New Year or festivals. One is to carry out drum beating activities to commemorate the tradition of ancestors; the other is a kind of sports competition. The third is festive activities. To increase the strong blessing atmosphere of festivals, in the collective era of the 20th century, big drums were also used to send public grain to the commune to celebrate the harvest year. In some villages, there is a lively scene of playing drums to send young people to serve in the army of the motherland. Playing drums in the local area is a grand and festive event, and it is a good sign of good luck and blessing.