Litter serves as an important medium for connecting plants and soil in terrestrial ecosystems. Determining the characteristics of litter nutrients could aid in our understanding of the mechanisms of carbon and nutrient cycles of the ecosystem. Our objective was to investigate the traits and regular patterns of litter nutrients of mixed evergreen and deciduous broadleaved forests in Shennongjia. In 2015, we gathered fresh fallen litter and the existing litter of mixed evergreen and deciduous broadleaved forests in Shennongjia, Hubei Province. We examined the concentration of six primary nutrients (C, N, P, K, Ca, Mg) from different organs and calculated the amount of nutrient return, nutrient stock and stoichiometric ratios. We found the concentration of C and K of the fresh fallen litter were higher, whereas the concentrations of N, P, Ca, and Mg were much lower compared with their existing counterparts. The amount of nutrient return and the nutrient stock of primary nutrients of the forest were both in the order C > Ca > N > Mg > K > P, and were 1569.84, 52.44, 34.82, 6.24, 5.24, and 1.30 kg hm^-2 a^-1 and 1835.29, 87.87, 51.17, 12.12, 3.90 and 1.95 kg hm^-2 a^-1, respectively. The C:N:P ratio of the fresh fallen litter and the existing litter were 1307.33:27.73:1 and 976.48:26.77:1, respectively. The C:N and C:P ratios of the fresh fallen litter were dramatically higher than the existing litter; however, there was no difference in the N:P ratio between the two types. We concluded that the differences in nutrient concentrations between fresh fallen litter and existing litter were relevant to their leaching during decomposition and immobilization by microorganisms. The amount of nutrient return and nutrient stock of the mixed evergreen and deciduous broadleaved forests in the region were less than the average level of subtropical broadleaved forests. Interestingly, these were dramatically lower than that of the same forest type in the karstic region, which could be explained by varied annual litter production, precipitation and vegetation. Furthermore, the obvious discrepancy in the lower C:N ratio and higher C:P ratio and N:P ratio between this forest and the broadleaved forests at the state and global scales might be explained by severe N deposition and P restriction in the region.