The present invention provides a towel hanging and drying machine. The towel hanging and drying machine comprises a hot air device configured to downwardly blow hot air with temperature higher than that of ambient air; and a hanging rod installed to be operated to pivot relative to the hot air device. The hot air device is also configured to be started when the hanging rod is pivoted to a first preset pivoted position and downwardly blow the hot air, and to be shut down when the hanging rod is pivoted to other positions away from the first pivoted position and stop downwardly blowing the hot air. The power on and off of the towel hanging and drying machine is controlled by utilization of pivoted motion of the hanging rod, the fact that a towel is dried can be visually perceived by users, and the towel hanging and drying machine is novel in structure and has good user experience.