which city should i fly into for a first trip? beijing or shanghai?

Chris

i have been to china 4 times for work and then stayed longer for travel. helping a friend plan their first trip and want some opinions.

they have 10 days. wants to see history and also modern china. likes food but not super spicy.

option 1. fly into beijing. see great wall and forbidden city. then take train to xi'an for terracotta warriors. then maybe train to shanghai to fly out.

option 2. fly into shanghai. see the bund and modern stuff. then take train to hangzhou or suzhou for gardens. then maybe somewhere else like chengdu.

i think option 1 is more "classic china" because of the history. but the travel between cities is more.

option 2 is easier because shanghai is a major hub and flights are cheap. but less historical stuff.

what do you guys think? any other cities i am missing? what about chengdu for a first timer? pandas are great but maybe too far.

friend is not super experienced traveler so i want to make it easy but also memorable.

thanks for any tips.