 The Dixie Mission hosted the Patrick Hurley and George Marshall diplomatic missions to negotiate a unification of the Chinese Communists and Nationalists . Both diplomatic efforts failed . Later , the brief existence of the Dixie Mission served as a positive memory between the People 's Republic of China and the United States during the administration of President Richard M. Nixon when official relations between the two countries were re @-@ established . Veterans of the Dixie Mission , like John Service and Koji Ariyoshi , were among the first Americans invited to visit the People 's Republic of China . 
