Typhoon rainfall rate and distribution are the two major components in the operational typhoon rainfall forecast. The distribution of typhoon rainfall is mainly affected by three factors: 1) typhoon inner structure; 2) peripheral atmospheric circulation and systems; and 3) underlying surface topography. The rainfalls inside typhoon circulation are grouped into five categories including eyewall rain, spiral band rain, small vortex rain, inverted trough rain, and shear line rain. Typhoon-associated rainfall outside typhoon circulation are divided into squall line rain (about 600 km in front of typhoon center), typhoon remote precipitation (TRP, about one thousand kilometers away from a typhoon), and downstream-effect rainfall (several thousand kilometers away from an extratropical transition typhoon). This paper reviews research progress on the impact of the three factors that may affect typhoon rainfall, the features and formation mechanism of the above different types of typhoon rainfall, which could be helpful for typhoon rainfall operational forecast.