The Node type of a work space contains a very out of date version of node, so you'd need to update it anyway. Because of this, I suggest creating a new Blank workspace.
In the instance update node:
nvm install 7.9.0
Update NPM:
npm install -g npm@latest
Then install the react client.
npm install -g create-react-app
Then create a new project:
create-react-app myapp
Move to the application folder:
cd myapp
Then edit the file package.json to launch the server on port 8080, since that's a special port in Cloud9.
"start": "PORT=8080 react-scripts start",
Then run npm start, hit the Preview button and the app should be displayed.
