Henan food is actually quite mild, Hunan is the chilli province. Here it's mostly stews or an assortment of dough stuffed with veggies and meat in an shapes and forms, from dumplings over pancakes to steamed buns. Allegedly the original baozi came from here, but I'm sure if you research it you'll find a million origin stories for every province.
Right and I guess if you cite religious reasons, they leave you mostly alone. Alcohol wasn't as straightforward since I have no reasons aside from health benefits, and then it's the usual "but once a year won't kill you" spiel (that I have to go through on every single occasion, even if they drop it ultimately and are happy to have a dedicated driver when the night moves on...).
How many times a year do you generally visit the hometown?
Who would have guessed.