This paper reviews the development of tourism planning in China over the past 20 years. Development falls into three stages：institutional period，a period of the transition from institution to industry and the industrial period. In this paper the tourism development planning is presented as four types：earning foreign exchange，resource-oriented，market-oriented and product-oriented. This paper analyses the aspects which affect regional tourism planning and the tourism site planning. It elaborates on the three stages of the research of tourism planning in China and its main achievements. The authors summarize the characteristics of each period of the tourism planning in China and existing problems. The paper conclusion gives thoughts and methods for developing the tourism planning in China and points out that，the future tourism planning in China will be more market and theme-oriented，more specialized and exquisite.