Originally Posted by Warlock

Forgot to mention you may also want to check the art panel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7SL8mscXA8

There was actually a bit of lore in there as well. In particular, the four cardinal directions are represented by animals - I believe it was the White Tiger of the West, Black Ox of the North, Jade Serpent of the East, and Red Crane of the South. Each animal is also represented by a clan - the white tigers are the military clan, the red cranes are the casters, the jade dragons are the monks/priests, and the Shado-pan represent the Black Ox for some reason (which was actually the only one that didn't make sense to me - an Ox is a large, lumbering animal... how does that say "ninja?"). But anyways, each zone is designed around these themes, so that's why you have the Jade Forest with a very jade-dragon-y theme, etc.

There is also an interesting bit during the prop discussion (which is quite possibly the funniest segement of any panel) that actually translates the Pandaren written language.

But seriously, if you watch it for nothing else, Eric Browning is freaking great. I had to watch his segement a few times because I was laughing so hard