Ten years ago, after experiencing a river cruise in Europe, Peng Jian Hu, president of Chinese river cruise line Century Cruises, had a vision: to bring the level and quality of European river cruising to China’s Yangtze River.
 
“The first time I traveled on a European river ship, I was very surprised,” Peng said during an interview at the company’s headquarters in Chongqing, China, earlier this week. “The ships are smaller but very comfortable. From that time, I had an idea. I wanted to change the Yangtze River cruise.”
 
The launch of Century Cruises’ 398-passenger Century Paragon on Tuesday evening in Chongqing — a vessel Peng said he had to fight tooth and nail to get built — is arguably the culmination of that concept.

“The yards had no experience, no idea how to do it. They said, ‘No way,’” recalled Peng about trying to build a new generation of river cruise ships in China. “We had the idea that cruises on the Yangtze River must improve. … For 10 years we tried, but we couldn’t.”

In 2009, Peng brought engineers and architects over from Europe to collaborate with the Dong Gang shipyard in Chongqing to build a new class of river cruise vessel on the Yangtze River. They designed the Century Paragon and its sister ship the Century Legend (which was supposed to launch alongside the Paragon but is being delayed until May) with an e-propulsion and rudder system intended to reduce the ships’ vibrations.

Onboard the idea was to improve the overall guest experience and service with everything from two dedicated executive levels with an exclusive a la carte restaurant, reception area, bar and sundeck to a 2,000-square-foot indoor swimming pool area and 150-seat movie theater.

At a press conference held onboard the Century Paragon on Tuesday, Peng appeared confident that the final product was sure to usher in a new era of river cruising along the Chinese river— one that will continue to look and feel more like the upscale experience half a world away in Europe.