The rare character was unable to be rendered on a computer so people chose Xian 冼 to replace it.
[citation needed] Most of people of the Shan surname live in Shandong, Henan and Hebei.
However, some people bearing the Shan surname can be found in Taiwan and overseas Chinese communities throughout the world.
Some Manchu and Hui people choose "Shan" as their family name, but their population is small.
Majority of the Shan are Han Chinese and they can trace their origin to the Zhou dynasty.