Washington U. basketball players Tyler Nading and Cam Smith are spending their offseason as part of a contingent of 11 engineering students from the school studying in China.

The university's school of engineering and applied science sponsors the program, which will study air quality in Beijing through July 12 in advance of the Olympics, which open in China on Aug. 8. Read their blog, updated from China.

"There's no better place to go for this," Nading told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch earlier this month. "We're not going in there thinking we're better because of our air. We're going in with a sentiment of humility."

&&b-boxr&&The students took classes at the Chinese Academy of St. Louis in preparation and took part in seminars on history and politics, transcontinental transport of air pollution, environmental informatics and power supply in China.

“I've talked to a couple people who have been there recently, or in the past couple years and all of them have said it is really hazy there and the air is terrible,” Smith told NCAA.com. “I know it's mainly because of the huge growth that China has been experiencing recently. With all that growth, they have to energy to power it. Most of the pollution is coming from all the factories and power production plants.”

China, home to 16 of the world's 20 most polluted cities, recently announced it would ban half of Beijing's 3.3 million cars from the streets in advance of the Games. Factory closures are being counted on to help clear the air as well.