Chilli and Luck in China

For ages already, Chinese symbolism associates the color red with luck.

The chile peppers cannot have any responsibility (they only reached China around 1600);
yet, there is a relationship:

Chinese diets, especially when rice is the main ingredient, are rather poor in vitamin A (and others). This can lead to health problems. Adding chile peppers, the problem is pretty much solved.
(Another reason why the chile peppers were readily integrated into Chinese cuisines is probably that they already used hot spices: at least Sichuan and the Sichuan pepper.)

Apparently, the red color of most chile peppers was also found to be appealing. Enough so that you don't only find chile peppers strung together to dry (like the Mexican "ristras") in some areas where they are cultivated. There are even chile pepper-like "ristras" made of plastic or fabric, hung up as good luck charms...