Shan is considered to be a first person narrator because he both tells the story and appears in it tells a story about someone else is the protagonist and, therefore, the "first" person is the first person mentioned in the story

Shan is considered to be a first person narrator because he both tells the story and appears in it.
A first-person narrator would obviously use the first person pronoun (I) to refer to him/herself. So, the entire story is told from this person's point of view, using that particular pronoun. E.g. 'I saw him standing there...' is an example of a first person narration which Shan is an example of. If he were talking about someone else, it would be third-person narration. 

My favorite candy is gummy bear