Turtle Beach lore and history - Field Photographer Friday

Updated 6 years, 9 months ago by Preston in Field Photographer Friday, Lore, Warcraft. View the change log.

Field Photographer Friday is a weekly look at the lore and history behind locations around World of Warcraft. This week, we're taking a look at Turtle Beach!

Prales hanging out on Turtle Beach

Turtle Beach is a piece of shoreline in the Krasarang Wilds zone on Pandaria. It looks like any other piece of shoreline, except for the statue of a Pandaren riding a sea turtle. The Pandaren is Liu Lang and his sea turtle is Shen-zin Su. Both are incredibly important Pandaren figures.

Turtle Beach and the Liu Lang Statue

Liu Lang was born before the First War, long before World of Warcraft’s time and even longer before Mists of Pandaria's time. From the time he was born, he wanted to travel beyond the mists that surrounded Pandaria. This was unusual for a Pandaren, as it was believed the rest of the world had been destroyed during The Sundering.

Liu Lang eventually realized that sea turtles always return to the beach where they were born. He visited a local merchant, Shen-zin, and bought supplies for his journey to explore beyond Pandaria. Shen-zin was so entertained by his customer’s plan that he suggested Liu Lang also bring an umbrella, which he offered for free. Liu Lang was so grateful he promised to name his sea turtle after the merchant.

Lorewalker Cho telling the story of young Liu Lang and Shen-zin Su

At Turtle Beach, Liu Lang befriended a sea turtle, which he named Shen-zin Su. He loaded his supplies, and his umbrella, onto the sea turtle and set off to explore the world. He would return to the same beach every five years, his sea turtle growing larger and larger. Eventually, it was large enough to support its own villages, forests, and mountains. It would become known as The Wandering Isle and now serves as the starting area for Pandaren in World of Warcraft.

It’s not clear who constructed the statue at Turtle Beach, but similar statues are found throughout Pandaren cities. Liu Lang is always depicted sitting atop Shen-zin Su with his umbrella.

Wanderer's Festival on Turtle Beach (Wowhead)

Every Sunday between 9:00pm PST and 11:00pm PST the Wanderer’s Festival takes place in-game on Turtle Beach. The festival is a celebration of Liu Lang as much as it is a celebration of exploration and curiosity in general. Lorewalker Cho and Lorewalker Shuchun encourage attendees to hold their dreams close and make them happen. The Festival is also the only place and time you can catch the Wanderer's Festival Hatchling battle pet.

I don’t expect this location to receive any changes or updates going forward. It will continue to exist as it has for thousands of years, serving as a location for adventurers to reflect on what can happen when they dare to dream and seek out new things.

Additional Lore Resources for Turtle Beach

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Join me every Friday as I work to expand my lore knowledge while completing the Field Photographer achievement. Read lore summaries for each location and follow up with resources where you can go more indepth! I encourage you to share your own selfies and any additional lore resources you know of in the comments below, or tweet @PrestonDvorak. Bonus points if the selfie is somewhere you shouldn’t be (such as an Alliance player in Orgrimmar)!