General Shan is the main antagonist of the Sherlock episode "The Blind Banker". She is the leader of the Black Lotus crime syndicate.
She kidnapped and attempted to kill Sarah Sawyer and Dr. John Watson. She was in league with James Moriarty, who granted the Black Lotus passage into Great Britain. Shan also operated the Black Lotus under the guise of an ancient Chinese circus. Believing Sherlock Holmes must have found the pin, she kidnapped John Watson by mistake due to misunderstanding him yelling sarcastic remarks to Sherlock Holmes, and finding Sherlock's check, tickets, and card in his pockets. She threatened to kill John's date, Sarah unless "Sherlock" told her where the pin was; he didn't know where it was, so it was a pointless effort to try interrogating him. Shan is later killed after failing to retrieve the £9 million jade lotus hairpin, in order to not to attract attention to Moriarty's actions