Hi Ryan.
I'm about to start on a similar trip. I would love to visit the Loess plateau and see what`s going on. I have no specific information about where to go, but if I don`t find any information, I might take the generalist approach and just go there and see what I find. I speak and read Chinese fluently, so it should be possible to talk to people there and find out what`s going on. I also hope to volunteer at the Hangzhou farm.