Abstract: Rural hollowing is a dominant problem in the process of urbanization in China, which affected the construction of new socialism countryside and the balanced development of urban and rural areas. With the unique characteristics of rural planning functions, cultural inheritance, and employment creation, rural tourism development has strong vitality and great potential to alleviate the rural hollowing problems and to promote the balanced development of urban and rural areas. Rural tourism development has been playing significant roles in attracting rural youth labors, making use of waste land, improving the rural style and features, and improving farmers’ living standards. Therefore rural tourism may also contribute greatly to the tourism economy agglomeration, rural land development and planning, and small town construction and management to solve the rural hollowing problem. To fully utilize the functions of rural tourism development, strategic planning, farmers' participation, concrete practice, system consummation, ecological and cultural protections are necessary.