An 89-year-old renowned Hong Kong novelist has recently finished his doctorate study at the prestigious Peking University, encouraging many people that it is never too late to learn, Beijing Youth Daily reported on Wednesday.

Sources with Peking University said Louis Cha, better known as Jin Yong, born in 1924, started studying Chinese national culture at Peking University in 2009. His supervisor is the prestigious professor Yuan Xingpei, director of the Research Institute of Chinese Culture at the university.

Chen Pingyuan, the former dean of the Chinese language department of Peking University, confirmed that Cha had been studying doctorate courses at the university. "But I do not think he had to go to class on campus every day," Chen said.

A photo of Cha's diploma published on the Internet, shows that Cha completed the "PhD training program of all required courses" and shows that Cha began study in September of 2009.

Cha's diploma was signed by Wang Enge, president of Peking University, and contains the school's official stamp.

While some netizens believe that Cha's completion of the doctorate program should be seen as inspirational, others have questioned whether Cha has completed the required coursework and wonder what his PhD thesis is about.

Cha has received honorary doctorates and has been offered professor emeritus positions by many prestigious universities at home and abroad.