Abstract: The fast rendering technique for large-scale and complex scenes is the basis of many important applications such as virtual reality, real-time simulation, 3D interactive design, and so on. And it is also a basic problem that many researches are trying to resolve. With recent advances in 3D scanning and modeling techniques, there has been a rapid increase in the availability and size of geometric datasets. Large-scale and complex scenes consisting of hundreds of millions of primitives are becoming increasingly common in many graphics applications. These large data sets exceed the capability for interactive rendering on standard graphics hardware. And it is a challenge for researchers to develop new rendering algorithms and data structures to work with these large complex scenes more efficiently. In this paper, a detailed survey of current techniques for interactive rendering of large-scale and complex scenes is given. Firstly, the state-of-the-art progress of the research is presented. Secondly, the related key technologies are summarized in detail. Thirdly, some typical interactive rendering systems for large-scale and complex scenes are compared and the necessary components and general framework for a potential interactive rendering system are described. Finally, some key research issues that need further research efforts are pointed out.