Chinese outbound tourists play a critical role in the world’s development and prosperity. In 2015, they made 128 million trips and spent US$ 292 billion on international tourism, thus contributing 23.2% of the world’s growth in tourism (UNWTO, 2016). Chairman Xi Jinping even predicted that the outbound travel from China would amount to over 0.5 billion between 2014 and 2018 (Dai & Li, 2014). Considering this enormous potential, an insight into the travel behaviors of potential mainland Chinese outbound tourists should be of interest to tourism managers and planners. However, it is very difficult to study Chinese tourists as a whole without proper segmentation. Generational analysis is one of the most useful segmentation methods, because of the relative homogeneity within generations, and obvious heterogeneity across generations (Schewe & Noble, 2000). Furthermore, it can be used to forecast the needs and wants of groups, and drive advertising in consumer sectors (Pennington-Gray, Kerstetter, & Warnick, 2002; Rentz & Reynolds, 1991; Rentz, Reynolds, & Stout, 1983). Therefore, it is widely used in tourism to understand tourists’ travel behaviors (Benckendorff, Moscardo, & Pendergast, 2010; Lehto, Jang, Achana, & O’Leary, 2008; Pennington-Gray, Fridgen, & Stynes, 2003). Despite the wide application of generational analysis in tourism in developed countries, few research has been conducted into Chinese outbound market from generational perspective. Based on tourism consumption model theory, this study collected data from potential mainland Chinese outbound tourists to sketch their attitudes, beliefs and travel preferences. Therefore, our present study aims to: (i) develop a profile of each Chinese generation, and (ii) assess the similarities and differences in international travel behaviors among Chinese generations, thus (iii) expand generational theory to an Eastern country, and (iv) provide information for tourism researchers and practitioners.