In this article we review the current research activities on the fabrication of inorganic hollow nanostructures by using self-templating methods. We start with a brief introduction to the traditional template-based methods, including those using hard and soft templates. The concepts and applications of four types of newly developed self-templating approaches are then discussed in detail, including those involving the "surface-protected etching" strategy, Ostwald ripening, the Kirkendall, effect, and the galvanic replacement. We finally conclude with a summary and our personal perspectives on the directions in which future work on this field might be focused. (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier Ltd.