This is an interesting piece. I can certainly believe the connection between enjoying spiciness and thrill-seeking. Eating really spicy food is a form of culinary masochism after all.
I have two little pieces of information to add.
On Mao's culinary idiosyncrasies: He was famous for his love of red-braised pork belly. And today, there are many "Mao restaurants" in China which specialize in the Hunanese-style red-braised pork belly recipe he preferred, which distinctively uses caramelized sugar instead of soy sauce to achieve the dark brown color.
On the connotations of 辣妹子 ("spicy girl"): The "spicy" implies not only a "spicy" temper and "spicy" tongue, but also "spicy" looks. Sichuanese and Hunanese girls are known for being very attractive.