What came first? Noodle or pasta

Running through the Northwest of China two things are really prominent with regard to food, the first is noodles and the second is rice, the 2 main sources of starch or “Carbs”. From the mega city to the smallest little farming hamlet in the mountains or the mud village oasis in the desert, they all make noodles (basically pasta).

I have eaten noodles made from potato flower, tofu, rice flour, wheat and many other inventive sources, as well as this in all shapes and sizes, stuffed with fillings or layered. The most amazing thing, all has been hand made, an art handed down through the ages. The Chinese culture and food culture stretches back some 2000 years. This makes me wonder where are the origins of the modern day pasta, maybe China?

Did the Venetian merchant and traveler Marco Polo maybe borrow the recipe from the Forbidden City?