Nine hikers who climbed Siguniang Mountain in Sichuan Province through a forbidden route will be suspended for three years from the mountain, and fined a maximum of 2,000 yuan ($309), according to the Sichuan Mountaineering Association (SMA).

"It's the first time we have punished hikers for entering a scenic spot in Sichuan Province," Gao Min, a vice general secretary of the SMA affiliated with the Sichuan Sports Bureau (SSB), told the Global Times on Friday. .

The nine hikers and five local guides were successfully rescued Wednesday after they were lost in the mountains of the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture for 13 days after hiking along a forbidden path which had been destroyed by the Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan Province in 2008.

About 1,000 people were involved in the rescue efforts which cost about 110,000 yuan.

The expense will be covered by the bureau along with the governments of the neighboring areas. Among them, the bureau alone has paid 26,000 yuan, Tang told the Global Times.

The tourists will pay 3,600 yuan to the SMA to cover their rescue expenses and will be fined 500 to 2,000 yuan, Gao said.

Xu Ning, who led the team of hikers, told the Global Times that all of them have accepted the punishment. However, Tang said "the punishment is too slight to give hikers a warning."

Though Gao said all rescue expenses should be paid by hikers who violate or ignore regulations; however, the fact is that most expenses in such cases are covered by the government for relevant laws and regulations are too old to handle more specific details.