Tibet in Chinese / Japanese...

西藏 is the Chinese and Japanese name for Tibet.

It is a vast area in southwest China for which the Chinese government has little control (except in the capital of Llasa). During your travels in Tibet (outside of Llasa) you will find it is rough country full of ruthless bandits and honorable and upright Living Buddhas. There are about 2000 Living Buddhas in Tibet, and at least 10 times more bandits ready to ambush you on the road or trail.

On the eastern frontier of Tibet, you will find the place designated to be Shangri-la. It's a friendly village of Tibetans and is the gateway to greater Tibet.

The full official Chinese name is Tibet Autonomous Region or 西藏自治區|西藏自治区. The name here, 西藏 is quite old - from several dynasties ago.

See Also:  China | Nepal | Asia

This is the Chinese name for the country of Nepal.

See Also:  Tibet | China | India | Asia

唵麼抳鉢訥銘吽 is one of the earliest and best-known mantras in the Buddhist tradition.

It can be heard in temples from Tokyo to Tibet.

This mantra is an expression of the basic attitude of compassion. It translates literally as “oṃ the jewel in the lotus hūṃ.”

There are several titles and transliterations for this mantra, including, 六字大明呪 (Great 6-syllable mantra), 六字真言 (6-syllable Sanskrit mantra of Avalokiteshvara bodhisattva), 唵嘛呢叭咪吽, 唵嘛呢叭咪哞, and 唵嘛咪叭呢哞.
Contact me if you need any of these alternates on your wall scroll.

強 is a character that means strong, strength, force, powerful, better, stubborn, and stiff (yes, all of this in one character).

This “strong” has less to do with physical strength and more to do with having a winning attitude, or just having the ability to win at something.

Note that most of the time, this character is pronounced “qiang” but when used with the meaning of stubborn, unyielding, or stiff, it is pronounced “jiang” in Chinese.

Also, sometimes “qiang” is used in modern Chinese to describe people that do crazy things (For example: Bicycling from Beijing to Tibet alone). I sometimes can be found outside my Beijing apartment wearing nothing but shorts and a tee-shirt while eating ice cream during a snow storm, just to hear my neighbors call me “qiang.” Maybe they mean “strong” but perhaps they are using the new meaning of “crazy strong.”

強 can also be a Chinese surname that romanizes as Jiang in the mainland or Chiang if from Taiwan.

強 is a valid Korean Hanja character with the same meaning but is mostly used in compound Korean words.

強 is used in Japanese (though normally in compound words). In Japanese, it has the same meaning but in some contexts can mean “a little more than...” or “a little over [some amount].” Most Japanese would read this as tough, strength, stiff, hard, inflexible, obstinate, or stubborn.

The variant 彊 is sometimes seen in older literature.